That same afternoon, Charles Caldwell received the first notices.

Two major agreements would not be renewed.

A third would continue only if Caldwell Construction provided substantially stronger guarantees, on account of prior performance failures.

And Whitmore Capital would not be extending a corporate credit facility that was scheduled to mature within weeks.

Charles spent hours at his desk that afternoon, reviewing spreadsheets, the numbers growing worse the longer he looked at them.

Without those contracts, without that credit facility, he could not cover payroll.