Searching in the Pacific Northwest?

May 19, 2026

by Luke Tatone from Massachusetts Institute of Technology - MIT Sloan School of Management in Portland, OR, USA

We're working hard to grow the Searchfunder community in Pacific Northwest. Please take a moment to introduce yourself below. Some questions to consider answering: Where are you based? What is your background? What's your buy box? Have you acquired yet? Where do you need the most help right now? Where can you provide help to others? Anything else on your mind? We'll be able to have much deeper discussions if you can provide as much detail as possible. A paragraph or two is perfect. Be sure to tag (@) when replying to comments to make sure your sub-comments are read.

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Reply by a searcher
from Dartmouth College in Portland, OR, USA

Where are you based? Portland, OR What is your background? Army veteran that transitioned to Corporate, currently work in HR Operations. What's your buy box? Feel like this evolves daily BUT... property-related non-discretionary services generating north of $500k in SDE that have been in operation over 15 years within two hours of PDX area. Have you acquired yet? Not yet Where do you need the most help right now? Creating deal flow - getting to know how others are doing this - I am not a mass mailer and am working full time so figuring out how to operationalize this. Where can you provide help to others? Sounding board, anything HR-related for operators or even related to diligence efforts around talent/culture for an acquisition. Anything else on your mind? Searching can be a lonely experience, grateful to meet others in the area that are on a similar journey.

Reply by a searcher
from University of Central Florida in Caldwell, ID, USA

Based in Caldwell, Idaho. Treasure Valley, about 30 minutes west of Boise. Background is 20+ years in construction, split between residential at Lennar, themed entertainment at Universal and The Nassal Company, and the last several years in commercial electrical PM at BergElectric, Kenny Electric, and ADK Electric on projects up to $17M. BS in Mechanical Engineering from UCF. Currently Principal Category Supply Manager at Micron in Boise. Buy box: EV $1.5-5M with SDE $400K+. Trades, trade-adjacent, B2B services, manufacturing, distribution. Idaho first, with secondary markets in Utah, Montana, Wyoming, Arizona, Nevada, and northern Texas. Owner-operator model has to be drivable from Caldwell. Out-of-state requires a GM in place. No franchises, no outside equity. Have not acquired yet. About 6 months into a self-funded search through Copper Canyon, Inc. (Idaho C-corp, ROBS-funded). Currently in active LOI negotiations on a commercial trades business in the Treasure Valley. Pipeline has cleared a couple of deals that didn't pencil. Both calls felt right. Where I could use help: Surety bonding intel for trades acquisitions. Specifically PNW commercial surety underwriters and brokers experienced re-underwriting when ownership changes. The transition from seller's bonding history to buyer's personal indemnity is something I want warm intros on before I need them, not after. SBA lenders active in trades acquisitions, particularly those willing to roll working capital into the loan and provide a real working capital line of credit (not just SBA Express). Compiling names beyond the usual handful that surface in every Searchfunder thread. Treasure Valley general contractor connections. If anyone has active relationships with commercial GCs in the Boise metro, would value warm intros over time. Building a customer-side network is one of my Year 1 priorities post-close. Where I can help: evaluating electrical contractor financials and deal mechanics, navigating ROBS, SBA, and seller note structures, supply chain and procurement category strategy (anyone targeting industrial distribution businesses), and Treasure Valley market intelligence (general contractor landscape, labor market, growth trajectory). Open to introductions, calls, or just trading notes with other PNW searchers. Reachable at redacted

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