Ironport Capital Group, a small-business funding service in Logan, Utah, helps Cache County electrical contractors find credit lines for payroll between draws, equipment financing for vans, lifts and trenchers, and working capital for larger commercial jobs. The county's 51 electrical contractor establishments employed 597 people in 2023 (CBP), about 11.7 per establishment by our arithmetic, against 6.9 for plumbing and HVAC.
| Electrical contractors, Cache County | 51 employer establishments in 2023 (CBP, NAICS 238210) |
|---|---|
| Employees and payroll | 597 employees, about $55.7 million payroll (CBP 2023) |
| Cache County share under five staff | 56.9% (CBP 2023) |
| No-payroll electrical businesses | 29 in 2024 (Nonemployer Statistics, NAICS 2022 23821) |
Payroll is the electrician's big cost
Electrical contracting is labor-heavy. Cache County's 51 electrical contractor establishments with employees averaged about 12 employees each in 2023 (597 employees, CBP), against about 6 for construction as a whole (3,683 across 658). More wages per job means a larger payroll to carry before each draw arrives.
Working capital for electrical contractors mostly covers that payroll. A line of credit fits firms running several jobs with staggered draws; a single large commercial job can justify a one-time working capital loan.
New-build draws and commercial service
On new homes, electrical rough-in and trim-out are billed at stages, with retainage held. Commercial work adds longer pay cycles, change orders and sometimes pay-when-paid clauses that tie your payment to the owner paying the GC. Service and repair work is the steadier side, billed at completion.
When asking about electrical contractor financing, separate these streams in what you bring: new-build receivables with retainage, commercial receivables with their terms, and service income in the bank statements.
Electrician equipment financing options
Work vans, bucket trucks, scissor lifts, trenchers, wire pullers and test equipment can be financed through equipment financing. Fleets turn over steadily, so a firm can finance one van at a time rather than the whole fleet at once. The equipment payment calculator shows the payment on any one item.
A labeled example: two jobs, staggered draws
Illustration only, with invented figures. A twelve-person electrical contractor runs a commercial fit-out and a set of new homes at once. The crew's weekly payroll comes to $18,000. The fit-out pays monthly, 45 days after billing, with 10% retained; the homes pay at rough-in and trim. In a month when neither job has a draw due, the firm pays about $78,000 in wages and $20,000 in materials with no job income arriving.
A line drawn for that month and repaid when the two draws clear costs interest only for the weeks it is used. The by-hand step is to lay out the next 90 days of payroll and draws on one page.
How to get an electrical contractor license, and why partners ask
Owners asking how to get an electrical contractor license in Utah are looking at state licensing, which this site does not advise on. Partners commonly ask for the license number and that the name on the license matches the business. The Utah DOPL contractor license guide covers the records worth having ready.
Change orders: document them before you fund around them
Change orders are a common source of electrical contractors' cash gaps. Extra circuits, upgraded service or a redesign added mid-job get done right away, but the money only follows once the change is approved in writing and billed. Unsigned change orders are the receivables partners trust least.
Before requesting funding around a job with open changes, collect the signed change orders, note which are billed and which are still pending, and keep them with the contract. A clear list turns an argument about what is owed into a document a partner can read. For the payroll that covers changed work before it is paid, a line of credit is the usual tool; equipment needs for the larger scope go to equipment financing.
Cache County, UT electrical contractors: what CBP and NES count
County Business Patterns counted 51 electrical contractor establishments with employees in Cache County in 2023 (NAICS 238210), with 597 employees and about $55.7 million in annual payroll. Just over half, 56.9%, ran with fewer than five people. Sixteen of them listed a ZIP 84321 address (ZBP 2023). Employee and payroll figures carry Census noise flags.
Nonemployer Statistics counted 29 electrical businesses with no paid staff in 2024 (NAICS 2022 code 23821), a separate program not added to the employer count. See the contractor and builder page for the whole sector and the Logan, UT business page for county data.
16 of the 51 electrical establishments, about 31%, had a ZIP 84321 address in 2023 (ZBP). Dividing Nonemployer Statistics receipts by its business count gives about $37,600 per no-payroll electrical business in 2024 (our arithmetic), a separate program and not a comparison with the employer figures.
Sizing a payroll gap from the county's own payroll figures
County Business Patterns lets you put a rough number on the weekly wage bill a draw has to cover. Electrical contractors in Cache County reported about $93,300 of annual payroll per employee in 2023, by our arithmetic from CBP, or about $1,790 a week. That is a county average across every role, not a wage for any particular job.
Illustration only: a crew of six at that average carries about $10,800 of payroll a week. If a builder's draw lands three weeks after the rough-in is finished, the contractor has fronted three weeks of that, plus wire, boxes and breakers bought on supplier terms. Use your own payroll register for a request; the county average only shows why electricians feel draw timing so sharply.
The same CBP row puts the county's average at 11.7 employees per electrical establishment, against 6.9 for plumbing and HVAC and 4.3 for building finishing contractors (our arithmetic). Electrical shops here run larger crews on average, which makes the timing of each payroll a bigger question for them than for a two-person crew.
What partners commonly review for an electrical contractor
- Contracts and draw schedules, with any pay-when-paid clauses noted
- An aging report with retainage separated
- Payroll records or a payroll summary
- License number and insurance certificates
- Quotes for vans, lifts or other equipment
Business loans for electricians and business loans for electrical companies are reviewed on the same records; larger firms usually add financial statements.
