Lodgehollow Funding Group arranges funding requests for contractors and builders in New Bern, NC and across Craven County. Construction cash moves in a particular order: materials and crews first, draws later, retainage last. This page matches that cycle to working capital, lines of credit and equipment financing, using County Business Patterns 2023 figures for local builders.
| Builders and trades with employees, Craven County, NC | 199 (CBP 2023) |
|---|---|
| Residential builders with employees | 67, 79.1% under five people |
| No-payroll residential builders | 240 (NES 2024) |
| New homes authorized, Craven County, NC | 553 in 2025 (BPS) |
| Construction employers, ZIP 28560 | 78 (ZBP 2023) |
How Money Moves on a Construction Job
A builder pays for lumber, concrete and labor before the owner pays for anything. Draws arrive after inspections or milestones, which can be weeks after the work, and a slice of each draw may be held back as retainage until the project is done. That sequence is the reason contractor financing exists: the work is real and billed, but the cash lags behind it.
The gaps show up in predictable places: mobilization on a new job, a big materials order, a slow-paying general contractor, and the final retainage release. Each one suits a different structure.
Construction Loan Retainage and the Cash It Ties Up
An illustrative case, not a quote: a Craven County builder signs a $180,000 job where the contract withholds 5 percent of each draw until completion. By the last draw, $9,000 sits with the owner. If three jobs like that overlap, $27,000 of earned money is out of reach at once, while payroll and suppliers still need paying.
A contractor line of credit is one way to handle retainage: draw when money is held back, repay when it is released. The retainage terms themselves are set in your contracts; how a revolving line works is explained on its own page.
Matching Each Job-Site Need to Contractor Financing Options
| Need | Structure | Why it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Payroll and materials before the first draw | Working capital | Short repayment from the draws themselves |
| Retainage, plus GCs who pay late | Line of credit | Draw and repay as money is held and released |
| Excavators, skid steers, dump trailers, trucks | Equipment loan or lease | The machine secures the payment |
| A shop, yard or a competitor's business | Term loan | A lump sum on level payments |
Construction Equipment Financing
Machines can be among the costliest things a small builder owns. Construction equipment financing pays the dealer or seller and lets the machine secure the agreement, which keeps it separate from the working capital the business needs for jobs. Used machines with documented hours and service records can be financed; partners want the serial number and a quote or appraisal. Before you choose between a loan and a rental-to-own deal, run the numbers in the used equipment payment calculator.
Builders With Employees in Craven County, NC
County Business Patterns counted 199 construction employer establishments in Craven County in 2023, with 1,242 employees and $71.6 million in annual payroll; 64.3% had fewer than five employees. Within that, residential building construction had 67 employer establishments, 53 of them (79.1%) under five people, and 204 employees. Nonresidential building construction had 10. Twenty-one of the residential builders had a ZIP 28560 address (ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023).
Nonemployer Statistics, a separate program, counted 240 no-payroll residential building firms and 768 no-payroll construction businesses of all kinds in the county in 2024. A firm with no payroll can still buy materials before it is paid.
Home Building Activity in Craven County, NC
The Census Building Permits Survey shows new housing units authorized in Craven County rising from 419 in 2023 to 485 in 2024 and 553 in 2025. All 553 units authorized in 2025 were single-family, with a reported construction value of $122.7 million, roughly $222,000 per unit by our arithmetic. These counts cover new homes only, not remodels or commercial work.
The Job Paperwork a Contractor Sends
- Signed contracts for live jobs, with their draw schedules
- An accounts receivable aging, including retainage held
- A work-in-progress or job-cost schedule for larger requests
- Business bank statements showing draws arriving
- Equipment quotes, serial numbers and hours for machine requests
Partners want to see that the jobs you are funding will pay for themselves. Clean job-cost records help a partner see whether the jobs will pay for themselves.
Trades With Their Own Page
Mechanical trades can run a different cash cycle from general builders: smaller tickets, service vans and parts stock. The plumbing and HVAC page covers service vans, parts stock and buying an existing company. Electrical and roofing contractors are covered in short notes on the industries hub. For county-wide figures across every sector, see the New Bern, NC business data page.
By Lodgehollow Funding Group · Updated