Downtown Madison and the Wisconsin State Capitol at sunset
Commercial trades market · Madison, WI

Appointment setting for commercial contractors in Madison

Madison has 2,042 businesses with 20 or more people on site across the categories commercial trades sell to, and it leans toward senior living and nursing and apartment and residential property managers more than the U.S. as a whole. Here is how each trade's market looks, where the buildings are and when to call.

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Trades in Madison

How each commercial trade's market looks in Madison

Ranked by larger buildings per contractor against up to 100 markets (only markets with 10 or more contractors in a trade are ranked; n/r means not ranked). A higher rank means more buildings worth calling for every competitor working them.

TradeContractors1-yr changeLarger buildingsPer contractorRankEligible targetsPush months
Commercial HVAC & Mechanical
Largest buyer group: manufacturing plants
44 -5 698 15.9 #5 1,057 Apr–May, Sep–Nov
Commercial Roofing
Largest buyer group: retail stores
11 0 1,167 106.1 #8 2,439 Feb–Apr
Commercial Construction
Largest buyer group: manufacturing companies
80 -4 661 8.3 #9 2,439 Year-round
Fire Protection
Largest buyer group: restaurants
16 0 1,147 71.7 #10 · Year-round
Paving & Asphalt
Largest buyer group: retail stores
19 0 1,065 56.1 #16 · Feb–Apr
Commercial Electrical
Largest buyer group: retail stores
77 +1 1,030 13.4 #20 · Year-round
Commercial Painting & Coatings
Largest buyer group: retail stores
14 -1 1,232 88.0 #19 · Feb–Apr
Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial
Largest buyer group: manufacturing plants
200 +15 771 3.9 #48 770 Year-round
Commercial Landscaping
Largest buyer group: retail stores
303 -2 1,074 3.5 #53 · Feb–Apr
Commercial Flooring
Largest buyer group: ambulatory health care: physician, dental, outpatient and urgent care
9 +1 599 66.6 n/r · Year-round
Who each program calls

The industries each Madison trade program prospects into

Every trade has its own target list. Here are the five largest target industries for each program in the Madison metro, with local location counts; each guide lists all ten and who your SDR asks for.

Locations with 20 or more employees, U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023. Property management and similar categories count every company, whatever its size.

What's being built

The projects shaping Madison

Named, sourced projects current as of 2026-10, and the trades each one puts to work.

Phillip A. Levy Engineering Hall

$419.8 million
Under construction; substantial completion December 2028

An eight-story, 395,000-square-foot engineering building on the UW-Madison campus in Madison, replacing a building demolished in 2025.

The state bid an $89.5 million mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection package with mobilization from December 2025, so MEP and fire protection crews are busy through 2028, followed by flooring, painting and building service work.

HVACelectricalfire protectionflooringpainting

The Daily Reporter, 2025-10-22 →

UW Health University Row Medical Center

Under construction; completion end of 2027

A four-story outpatient clinic at 750 University Row on Madison's west side with primary care, urgent care, imaging, lab, rehabilitation and pharmacy space.

Clinic interiors bring HVAC, electrical and fire protection work through 2027, then flooring and finish trades before patients arrive in early 2028; UW Health additions at University Hospital and East Madison Hospital are running at the same time.

HVACelectricalfire protectionflooringcleaning

WisBusiness, 2025-11-10 →

Irving & Dorothy Levy Hall

$115 million
Opened fall 2026

A 136,000-square-foot humanities building at North Park and West Johnson streets on the UW-Madison campus with 13 classrooms and a rooftop garden.

Now open, the building moves into service contracts: custodial, HVAC maintenance, fire protection inspections and rooftop garden and grounds care.

cleaningHVACfire protectionlandscaping

C.D. Smith Construction, 2026-09-23 →

Madison Metropolitan School District 2024 Facilities Referendum

$507 million
Phase 1 under construction since March 2026; new buildings due 2027

Rebuilds or renovations of 10 of the district's oldest schools across seven Madison sites, starting with new buildings for Black Hawk/Gompers on the far North Side and Sherman/Shabazz on the North Side.

The new North Side buildings are under construction through 2027, then the old schools come down and the lawns are rebuilt on their footprint, with a second phase of referendum projects to follow. Building envelope, roofing, flooring, painting and site and grounds work all run through the program.

constructionroofingflooringpaintinglandscaping

Madison365, 2026-09-24 →

Imagination Center at Reindahl Park

Opened September 2026

Madison Public Library's 10th branch and a four-season park pavilion at 1814 Parkside Drive in Reindahl Park on Madison's northeast side.

With the library and pavilion now open, the city buys ongoing custodial, HVAC maintenance and park grounds care for a building used year-round.

cleaningHVAClandscaping

Madison365, 2026-09-21 →

John Nolen Drive Reconstruction

$33.9 million
Under construction; contract completion July 2027

Reconstruction of the John Nolen Drive causeway along Lake Monona between the Madison Beltline and downtown, starting with the stretch from East Lakeside Street to South Broom Street.

The contract covers milling, grading and new asphalt and concrete paving, six reconstructed causeway bridges and three new bike and pedestrian bridges, new traffic signals and lighting, and a rebuilt shoreline, with the Madison LakeWay waterfront project expected to follow in 2027.

pavingconstructionelectricallandscaping

Finance & Commerce, 2025-09-18 →

The Greenline

Under construction; first phase expected to finish in 2028

Galway Companies' mixed-use village on about 12.5 acres along West Broadway in Monona, with close to 700 apartments, about 25,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and a 1.5-acre city park; the first phase replaces the Broadway Building at 1709 W. Broadway.

Phase one is two six-story buildings with about 357 apartments, covered parking and surface lots for retail, so shell, roofing, interior finish and lot paving work runs into 2028, with a second two-building phase planned next door.

constructionroofingpaintingflooringpaving

Wisconsin State Journal, 2026-09-30 →

Sub-Zero Verona Distribution Warehouse

nearly 800,000 sq ft
Proposed; Verona plan commission review October 2026

A proposed Sub-Zero distribution warehouse on about 80 acres of farmland south of Whalen Road, expanding the business park on Verona's southeast side.

If approved, a building this size means steel and tilt-up shell work, a very large low-slope roof, warehouse sprinklers, electrical service for a 24-hour operation and truck courts and lots sized for about 70 truck trips a day.

constructionroofingfire protectionelectricalpaving

Wisconsin State Journal, 2026-09-29 →

YMCA of Dane County Fitchburg Facility

$58 million
Construction starting September 2026; opening early 2028

A 97,200-square-foot YMCA on McKee Road in Fitchburg with two pools, two gymnasiums, a childcare center for up to 100 children and a 10,000-square-foot Access Community Health Centers clinic, replacing Madison's West YMCA.

The build runs through 2027 with a new roof, interior painting across gyms, pools and childcare rooms, pool HVAC and a large parking lot behind the building; once open in 2028 a facility with pools, childcare and a clinic needs daily custodial service.

roofingpaintingpavingHVACcleaning

Wisconsin State Journal, 2026-06-24 →

UW Health, UnityPoint Health – Meriter and Lifepoint Rehabilitation hospital, Fitchburg

58,000 square feet
Under construction; completion early 2027

A free-standing 40-private-room inpatient rehabilitation hospital at 5094 Greenmarket Place, at Lacy Road and Highway 14 in Fitchburg, built by Findorff.

Interior trades are on site into early 2027: sprinkler and fire alarm systems for an inpatient hospital, patient-room and therapy-gym flooring, and mechanical and electrical fit-out for a 40-room hospital that Lifepoint will operate day to day.

constructionfire protectionflooringHVACelectrical

WKOW 27 News, 2025-10-30 →

Science Hall renovation, UW-Madison

$163.2 million
Renovation set to begin in 2027

Renovation of the five-story, 98,000-square-foot Science Hall at Park and Langdon streets on the UW-Madison campus, a building on the National Register of Historic Places, into a hub for geography, environmental studies and geospatial science.

Work starting in 2027 covers a roof replacement, masonry and terracotta repair, window upgrades, HVAC and mechanical system upgrades, and interior rebuilds that remove non-historic partitions for new labs and gathering space.

constructionroofingHVAC

UW-Madison News, 2026-05-21 →
Where the buyers cluster

The owners that anchor Madison

Health systems, campuses, large employers and industrial parks hold the biggest concentrations of commercial buildings here. Each fact links to its source, checked 2026-10.

Health system

UW Health

Madison, Dane County

UW Health reports more than 4 million appointments a year through its outpatient clinics, and all three of its Madison hospitals were undergoing renovations as of November 2025.

Runs University Hospital, East Madison Hospital, American Family Children's Hospital and a clinic network, all with HVAC, life-safety, cleaning and parking needs.

HVACfire protectioncleaningelectrical

WMTV 15 News →
Major employer

Epic Systems Corporation

Verona, Dane County

Epic Systems had 14,000 employees in 2025 and is headquartered at 1979 Milky Way in Verona.

Runs a large corporate campus of office buildings, landscaped grounds and parking that needs ongoing cleaning, grounds care and building systems work.

cleaninglandscapingHVACpaving

Wikipedia →
Major employer

American Family Insurance

Madison, Dane County

American Family Mutual Insurance Company is headquartered in Madison and reported 13,500 employees company-wide in 2022.

Headquarters office campus with occupied-building cleaning, HVAC, electrical and grounds needs.

cleaningHVACelectricallandscaping

Wikipedia →
Industrial park

Center for Industry & Commerce

Madison, Dane County

The city-run park on U.S. Highway 51 next to the airport's air and ground shipping terminal lists 2.5 and 3.43 acre parcels as available.

Industrial-zoned lots where new buildings bring site work, paving, power and fire protection, then recurring lot and grounds maintenance.

constructionpavingelectricalfire protection

City of Madison →
Airport

Dane County Regional Airport

Madison, Dane County

The airport served nearly 2.5 million passengers in 2025, its most ever and a 6% increase from 2024.

County-owned terminal, parking garage, hangars and airfield pavement that need mechanical, roofing, paving and cleaning work.

pavingHVACroofingcleaning

WMTV 15 News →
The local business base

Who the buyers are in Madison

Compared with the national mix, Madison over-indexes on senior living and nursing, apartment and residential property managers and golf courses and country clubs. The fastest-growing categories over the past year: medical, dental and outpatient offices (+73), wholesale distributors (+33) and senior living and nursing (+30).

CategorySites with 20+All establishmentsvs. U.S. mix1-yr change
Restaurants
4761,626 1.20x +24
Retail stores
4612,026 0.99x 0
Manufacturing plants
284709 1.05x -11
Wholesale distributors
167760 0.91x +33
Medical, dental and outpatient offices
1601,063 0.81x +73
Senior living and nursing
104257 1.70x +30
Grocery stores
72232 0.79x +2
Hotels
56140 1.25x +2
Auto dealerships
50116 1.14x -3
Bank and credit union offices
45343 1.10x +3
Trucking companies
43325 0.94x -10
Churches and religious organizations
39376 0.19x +1
Private K-12 schools
2141 0.57x -3
Apartment and residential property managers
15144 1.58x +26
Warehousing and distribution
1333 1.10x +4
Hosting and data processing companies
1139 0.65x +7
Golf courses and country clubs
1131 1.37x -1
Hospitals
815 0.72x +3
Commercial property managers
341 0.57x -1
Nonresidential building owners
358 1.17x +3
Colleges and universities
05 0.42x +3
Territory

Where the business sites are

Dane County, Columbia County and Green County hold 98% of the metro's larger business sites. Most programs start in those counties and add the outer 1 county for larger accounts, depending on how far your crews travel.

CountyLarger business sites
Dane County1,716
Columbia County145
Green County67
Iowa County36
Climate and timing

Madison's year, month by month

Outdoor trades (roofing, paving, landscaping, exterior painting) work the months with lows of 40°F or above and sell in the months before. HVAC sells ahead of its heating and cooling peaks. Each trade page has its own calendar.

  1. Jan27° / 11°Off-season
  2. Feb32° / 14°Off-season
  3. Mar44° / 24°Off-season
  4. Apr57° / 35°Off-season
  5. May70° / 47°Outdoor season
  6. Jun79° / 57°Outdoor season
  7. Jul82° / 61°Outdoor season
  8. Aug80° / 59°Outdoor season
  9. Sep73° / 51°Outdoor season
  10. Oct60° / 39°Off-season
  11. Nov45° / 28°Off-season
  12. Dec32° / 17°Off-season
Working in Wisconsin

Contractor licensing in Wisconsin

Wisconsin has no statewide commercial general contractor license. DSPS's Dwelling Contractor certification applies to building permits for one- and two-family homes, while trades such as electrical, HVAC, and fire sprinkler are credentialed by DSPS statewide.

Trade-by-trade rules are on each trade page. Confirm with Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS). Checked 2026-09-30.

Hiring locally

What an in-house SDR costs in Madison

Before you hire a sales development rep in Madison, price the whole job, not just the salary. Here is the local pay for sales representatives, and what a first year really costs once you add commission, payroll taxes and benefits, tools, recruiting and the manager time it takes to coach them.

  • $65,840median pay for a sales rep in the Madison metro
  • $51,500 to $88,870middle half of local pay (25th to 75th percentile)
  • 4,060people in the role locally, all competing for the same hires

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Sales representatives of services, except advertising, insurance, financial services and travel (SOC 41-3091).

In-house SDR, first year$127,650
Abstrakt Growth program, full-time SDR, 12 months$102,000

In-house adds $15,000 commission, 25% payroll taxes and benefits, $500/month tools, $5,000 recruiting and 4 manager hours a week at $75/hour, before ramp time or turnover. Abstrakt includes the SDR, management, tools and data.

How Abstrakt works in Madison

Outsourced appointment setting, one trade per market

Abstrakt's U.S.-based business development reps build a Madison target list around your trade, service area and ideal buildings, work it by phone, email, LinkedIn and direct mail, and book meetings with the people who sign. We will not run the same program for a direct competitor in your territory.

Selling into Wisconsin? See the Wisconsin outbound calling rules: do-not-call lists, calling hours and registration, so you know what a program here has to handle.

Madison commercial trades, answered

Does Abstrakt set appointments for commercial contractors in Madison?+

Yes. Abstrakt runs outsourced appointment setting for commercial trades across the Madison, WI metro: our U.S.-based business development reps call the buildings, qualify the opportunity and book meetings with the person who signs. We run one program per trade per market.

Which commercial trades have the most room to grow in Madison?+

Measured by larger buildings per contractor against the 100 markets we track (where a trade has at least 10 local contractors), commercial HVAC & Mechanical (#5), commercial Roofing (#8) and commercial Construction (#9) rank best in Madison.

What kinds of businesses are concentrated in Madison?+

Compared with the national mix, Madison has more senior living and nursing (1.70x), apartment and residential property managers (1.58x) and golf courses and country clubs (1.37x). Those industries are the best-represented buyers for trades that serve them.

Which counties make up the Madison market?+

The metro covers 4 counties. Dane County, Columbia County and Green County hold 98% of the larger business sites, so most programs start there.

Sources and method