Commercial Construction
Northeast general contractor specializing in municipal and institutional projects
Case study
$1.3M Project Mobilization Capital
A short-term bridge facility that enabled a commercial contractor to mobilize two municipal projects simultaneously, satisfy bonding requirements, and repay ahead of schedule.
~$22M
Established contractor with 15+ year track record on public and commercial projects
$1.3M
Bridge working capital with defined 9-month term tied to project milestone schedules
7 months
Facility deployed in 9 days; fully repaid at month 7, two months ahead of term
Bridge Term Facility
Repayment tied to milestone draw schedules from two concurrent municipal contracts
60% Bonding Increase
Both projects completed on time; bonding capacity expanded from $8M to $12.8M single-project limit
Situation
Two wins at once — and no way to mobilize both without proof of capital.
The company had been pursuing municipal contracts for three years, building relationships with local government procurement offices and establishing a track record on smaller public projects. That effort converged when they were awarded two large contracts within the same 30-day period: a $4.2M municipal recreation facility and a $3.8M school district infrastructure upgrade.
Both projects required immediate mobilization — material deposits, equipment rental commitments, and initial labor crews on-site within 45 days of notice to proceed. Combined upfront costs before the first milestone payment on either project totaled approximately $1.3M — a classic bridge liquidity need. The company's existing cash position and bank line couldn't cover both simultaneously.
Compounding the problem: the bonding company required proof of available working capital to issue performance bonds on both projects concurrently. Without demonstrating liquidity, the surety would only bond one project at a time — meaning the company would need to decline or defer one contract, potentially damaging the government relationships they'd spent years building.
Structure
Repayment matched to milestone collections on both projects.
We structured a $1.3M bridge working capital facility with a defined 9-month term structure, specifically designed to cover the mobilization period before milestone payments began flowing. Repayment was tied directly to the draw schedules from both municipal contracts, creating a self-liquidating structure that the bonding company could verify and accept.
- Facility amount: $1.3M deployed in two tranches — $780K at closing for immediate material deposits and equipment commitments, $520K at day 21 for labor mobilization costs
- Term: 9 months with early repayment permitted without penalty; structured to fully amortize from milestone collections
- Repayment source: Milestone payments from both contracts, with first collection projected at month 2.5 (recreation facility) and month 3 (school district)
- Bonding support: Facility documentation provided to surety as proof of available working capital, enabling concurrent bond issuance
- Underwriting basis: Signed contracts, municipality payment history, contractor's completion track record, and defined milestone schedules
Outcome
Both projects delivered. Bonding capacity transformed.
The bonding company issued performance bonds on both contracts within 5 days of receiving the facility documentation. The company mobilized both projects on schedule, with crews on-site at both locations within the required 45-day window.
Milestone payments from the recreation facility began at month 2, slightly ahead of projection. The school district project followed at month 3. By month 5, the facility balance had been reduced by 70% from milestone collections alone. The remaining balance was retired at month 7 — two months ahead of the original 9-month term — when both projects reached their substantial completion milestones.
The dual-project completion record and demonstrated working capital management led the bonding company to increase the contractor's single-project bonding limit from $8M to $12.8M — a 60% increase. The company has since been awarded a $10.5M municipal project that would not have been bondable under their previous limits.
Two major projects at once. No bank would move fast enough. We structured around their milestone schedule and funded in days.
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