Rockbank Capital Group, a small-business funding broker in Cookeville, Tennessee, works with restaurants, retailers and wholesalers, medical and dental offices and construction trades across Putnam County. This page sets each sector's 2023 Census counts beside the structures that fit how it earns and spends. Approvals and terms come from lending partners, not from Rockbank.
Putnam County, TN partner sectors by the numbers
| Sector | Employer establishments | Employees | Annual payroll |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retail trade (NAICS 44-45) | 359 | 5,492 | $196.0 million |
| Food services and drinking places (NAICS 722) | 202 | 4,517 | $87.3 million |
| Ambulatory health care (NAICS 621) | 182 | 2,367 | $124.0 million |
| Construction (NAICS 23) | 153 | 1,804 | $104.9 million |
| Wholesale trade (NAICS 42) | 81 | 1,989 | $135.6 million |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023. Employer establishments only.
Structure by sector
| Sector | Common needs | Structures that tend to fit |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurants | Kitchen equipment, payroll gaps | Equipment financing, working capital |
| Retail and wholesale | Shelf stock and store fixtures | Stock financing, or a credit line for smaller buys |
| Medical and dental | Clinical equipment, insurer delays | Equipment financing, working capital |
| Construction | Machines, gaps before draws | Equipment financing or a revolving line |
Restaurants and food service
Putnam County counted 180 restaurants and other eating places with employees in 2023, within 202 food service and drinking place employers. Only 20.3 percent of the larger group had fewer than five employees, a much lower share than most sectors. Restaurant financing covers kitchens, payroll and how to total an advance offer.
Retail and wholesale
Retail trade had more employer establishments than any other Putnam County sector in 2023 (359), and 646 more retail businesses ran with no employees in 2024 (Nonemployer Statistics; a different program, not added to the employer count). Stock is the central funding question for both retailers and the county's 81 wholesale employers; inventory financing explains how the goods can secure the money that buys them.
Medical and dental practices
Ambulatory health care, which includes physicians' and dentists' offices, had 182 employer establishments in 2023: 66 physicians' offices and 31 dental offices among them. Across all of health care and social assistance, payroll reached $318.6 million, more than any other county sector. Practices typically finance clinical equipment and bridge the wait for insurer payments.
Construction trades
Putnam County had 153 construction employers in 2023, 99 of them specialty trade contractors such as electricians, plumbers and framers, and 1,017 construction businesses with no employees in 2024 (Nonemployer Statistics). Builders pulled permits for 629 new residential units in 2025 (Building Permits Survey). Machines and the gap before a draw clears are the usual needs.
Outside our partners' focus
Agriculture and trucking requests are outside what Rockbank arranges. Manufacturing carries a large share of the county's payroll ($310.8 million in 2023) but is not one of the four sectors our partners concentrate on. For local context on every sector, see Putnam County employer counts.
By Rockbank Capital Group ยท Updated