Aspenhollow Business Capital, based in Olympia, WA, arranges plumbing and HVAC business loans through funding partners: equipment financing for service vans and tools, inventory financing for units and fixtures, and lines of credit for payroll between draws. Thurston County, WA had 76 plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractor establishments in 2023 with 940 paid employees.
| Plumbing, heating and AC contractors | 76 (CBP 2023, NAICS 238220) |
|---|---|
| Paid employees | 940 |
| Annual payroll | $78.2 million |
| Share under 5 employees | 53.9% |
| With no employees | 48 (NES 2024, NAICS 23822) |
Service work and project work
Plumbing and HVAC contractors may run two streams. Service calls (a failed water heater, a furnace that will not start) can be paid at the job. New construction and remodel work may be paid by draw, like other trades, sometimes weeks after the work. Both streams can need stocked vans and an inventory of fixtures, water heaters, furnaces, condensers and fittings. Business loans for HVAC and plumbing companies follow that mix: equipment, stock and payroll timing.
Vans, jetters, cameras: plumbing equipment financing
Plumbing equipment financing covers drain machines, sewer cameras, jetters, pipe threaders and press tools. HVAC adds recovery machines, vacuum pumps, manifolds and lifts. A service van, upfitted with shelving and stock, can be the biggest single purchase. Equipment financing matches each to its working life.
Units, fixtures and stock
Water heaters, furnaces, heat pumps and condensers are expensive to keep on hand, so stocking them is a cash decision. Inventory financing or a line of credit can carry that stock. Partners want to know how fast units turn and whether supplier credit already covers part of it.
Working capital for HVAC and plumbing payroll
Working capital for plumbing and working capital for HVAC both come down to installers' wages on project work while draws are pending. A plumbing contractor on a multi-unit residential job may carry several weeks of rough-in labor before the first draw. A line drawn for payroll and repaid from draws may fit; see the parent page, funding for contractors and builders, for how draws and retainage work.
Illustrative example: stocking heat pumps
A hypothetical example, for illustration only. An HVAC company that installs six to eight heat pumps a month buys ten units at once to get a supplier discount, a $62,000 order. Instead of paying cash and squeezing payroll, it finances the order and repays as units are installed and invoiced over the following two months.
Plumbing and HVAC in Thurston County, WA
Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors (NAICS 238220) counted 76 employer establishments in Thurston County, WA in 2023, with 940 paid employees and $78.2 million in annual payroll. 41 of them (53.9%) had fewer than five employees, and 20 had a ZIP 98501 address (County Business Patterns 2023; ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023). By our arithmetic that is about 12.4 paid employees per establishment.
A further 48 plumbing and HVAC businesses had no paid employees in 2024 (Nonemployer Statistics 2024, NAICS 2022 code 23822). Thurston County, WA also had 78 electrical contractor establishments (CBP 2023).
Service calls, vans and stock: the starting facts
- What share of work is service calls versus new construction?
- How many vans are on the road, and how old are they?
- How much unit and fixture stock is on hand, and how fast does it turn?
- Which general contractors do you work for, and how fast do they pay?
Service work paid at the job can be steadier than draw-based project work, and a partner may read a service base alongside project-side gaps.
Licensing and registration records
A partner may ask for contractor records that match the bank account and contracts. What registration applies to your business is a question to confirm with each office, and we do not advise on the rules; the contractor registration guide covers what a partner may look for.
What partners commonly review
- Business bank statements
- Equipment and van quotes
- Supplier orders and inventory turnover
- Current contracts and draw schedules
- Contractor registration status
- Owner credit; existing debt
The Washington contractor registration guide explains what partners may look for. No partner publishes thresholds.
Related trades
See painting, drywall and flooring contractors. County context is on the Olympia, WA page; all industries are grouped on the hub.
By Aspenhollow Business Capital · Updated