Contractor financing covers the working capital, credit lines and equipment that construction businesses need between buying materials and being paid. Glenford Financial, a small-business funding broker in San Angelo, TX, helps Tom Green County builders and specialty trade contractors compare those options and connects them with lending partners, which make credit decisions and set rates and terms.
| Construction employers | 314 in Tom Green County (CBP 2023) |
|---|---|
| Fewer than 5 employees | 61.1% of them (CBP 2023) |
| No-employee construction firms | 1,540 in the county (Nonemployer Statistics 2024) |
| New homes permitted | 335 units in 2025, up from 233 in 2024 (Census BPS) |
| Funding to compare | Working capital, line of credit, equipment financing |
| Who decides | Lending partners, not Glenford Financial |
Tom Green County construction in the numbers
| Group | Establishments | Paid employees | Annual payroll | Under 5 employees (share) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All construction | 314 | 2,743 | $178.1 million | 61.1% |
| Specialty trade contractors | 208 | 1,340 | $77.5 million | 56.7% |
| Construction of buildings | 75 | not shown | $13.2 million | 72.0% |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023. Employee counts for building construction carry a higher noise flag, so they are not shown. Separately, 1,540 construction businesses in the county operated with no paid employees in 2024, including 1,100 specialty trade businesses and 405 building contractors (U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics 2024). The two programs count different businesses in different years, so the figures should not be added together.
Read plainly: most construction firms here are small. A crew of four that buys materials for one job and waits 30 days to be paid can have its whole bank balance tied up in a single project.
Residential building activity
New privately owned housing units authorized by building permits in Tom Green County went from 252 in 2023 to 233 in 2024 and 335 in 2025; 333 of the 2025 units were single-family, and their permit valuation totalled $99.4 million (U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey). These figures count new homes only, not commercial work, remodels or repairs, so they describe one slice of local demand rather than the whole trade.
Contractor financing versus construction loans
Two different things share the name. A construction loan in the real-estate sense pays to build a property and is released in draws as work is inspected; it is made to the property owner by lenders that make real-estate loans. Contractor financing is funding for the construction business itself: cash to carry payroll and materials, a line to draw on between progress payments, and financing for equipment. Glenford Financial's six funding types are the second kind.
Where the cash gap comes from
- Materials up front. Supplies are bought at the start of a job, often before a deposit covers them.
- Weekly payroll. Crews are paid every week; customers pay on completion or by monthly progress billing.
- Retainage. On many commercial jobs a share of each payment is held back until the project is accepted, sometimes for months.
- Slow approvals. A pay application waiting on an inspection or a signature delays everything behind it.
Working capital financing suits one large gap with a known end, such as a single job's retainage. A contractor line of credit suits the repeating pattern of draw, build, bill and wait.
Contractor line of credit
A construction line of credit lets a contractor draw for materials and payroll as each job starts, then pay the balance down as progress payments arrive. It works when the balance genuinely cycles. If it only ever rises, jobs may be underpriced, and a review of bids and costs will help more than a bigger limit. The line of credit page covers draws, interest and renewals.
Equipment and work vehicles
How to finance construction equipment comes down to three choices: buy with an equipment loan, lease, or rent by the job. Financing makes sense for machines used most weeks of the year; occasional-use equipment is often cheaper to rent. Partners usually secure the financing with the equipment and may limit the age or hours of used machines. Pickups, vans and trailers used by the crew are financed the same way. Loans, leases and equipment finance agreements are compared on a separate page about financing machines.
Public and commercial contracts
Contractors bidding on government or large commercial work often face longer payment cycles and heavier paperwork than on residential jobs. Before bidding, work out how many weeks of payroll and materials you would carry before the first payment, and line up the funding first. Partners reviewing such requests commonly ask for the contract itself and the payment schedule.
Documents a contractor should have ready
- Recent business bank statements
- An accounts receivable list showing who owes what, and how long it has been outstanding
- A work-in-progress schedule: each job's contract value and billing to date
- Signed contracts for the work the funding supports
- Quotes for equipment, with make, model and year
Requirements differ by partner and funding type.
How Glenford Financial works with contractors
We start with your jobs and your payment cycle, then match the gap to a funding type and to partners that fund construction businesses. Local business figures are on the San Angelo, TX page, and other sectors are under funding by industry.
By Glenford Financial · Updated