CNBC’s new series “Blue Collar Millionaires” featured a Redding man, Boyce Muse, in its initial broadcast. Muse, the founder and owner, with his wife, of Muse Concrete, came up from dire poverty.  At an early age, they bet everything they owned on a future building boom in Northern California.  They bet right.

Concrete is an expensive business.  The machinery involved in pouring and sawing concrete is massive and difficult to transport.  Muse now has over 100 employees, 16 machines up from the original one, and the business did $13M in 2014. They do projects all over Northern California.  The Muses have two homes, a 4000 sf home in Redding and and an 8000 sf mountain retreat near Mt Shasta. And a plane.  You can rent the Shasta house when they’re not using it for $895 a night.

Mrs. Muse is shown describing the trepidation they felt at taking out a loan for a machine that cost more than their then-house. Yes, their bet paid off.  But would that kind of financing even be available today?  Ever since the 2008 crash, it seems that financing has dried up.  It’s going to be hard to spawn more tycoons without capital available for investment.

The next two episodes of “Blue Collar Millionaire” air tonight (July 22) at 7 and 10pm on CNBC.  You may have to tape Sharknado.

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