Feasibility Study Data for the Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC Metro Area

Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC: reading the area whole

Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC is a metropolitan area, and its 598 SBA approvals in FY2017 to FY2026 carried $460.0 million in gross dollars. Augusta ranks as a mid-table area, 153 of 928 by loan count. Augusta, with every class pooled, is read in Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC. No GA and SC state page offers that view of Augusta.

A Augusta median loan of $400,500 sits inside a middle half of $150,000 to $1.0 million. Outside data makes Augusta requests look light; at 1.93x, Augusta is well above the national level. Augusta counts 514 loans under 7(a) and 84 under 504, so 7(a) carries the Augusta mix. Augusta franchised businesses took 28.3% of loans, so a branded concept in Augusta needs a brand-cost check in Augusta.

Augusta: classes, places and lenders

Among Augusta's tracked classes, 46 loans in full-service restaurant; 43 loans in hotel and motel; 37 loans in limited-service restaurant; 24 loans in gas station and truck stop come first. Augusta also holds 330 loans outside every tracked class; Augusta small business lending shows here. Augusta lending concentrates by county: Richmond County, GA (213 loans), Columbia County, GA (205 loans), and Aiken County, SC (130 loans). Augusta 7(a) leaders: The Huntington National Bank ($23.8 million, 43 loans); Wells Fargo Bank National Association ($6.4 million, 40 loans); Live Oak Banking Company ($35.3 million, 33 loans). Augusta 504 leaders: CSRA Local Development Corporation ($58.8 million, 73 loans), in that order. The Huntington National Bank, with 43 loans, tops the Augusta rows, each an SBA record of Augusta loans held or once held; none judges Augusta lenders.

Augusta goes from 63 loans in FY2017 to 77 in FY2026, ending higher: the peak was 77 in FY2026, and the trough 42 in FY2018. Augusta cancellations stand at 14.4%, a floor, for Augusta approvals in FY2017 to FY2024; Augusta's ceiling is withheld, never zero in Augusta. 3.8% is the floor for Augusta loans charged off among the 237 disbursed in FY2017 to FY2021. The Augusta five-year loss figure is withheld; Augusta cannot read it as zero. Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC membership follows the July 2023 delineation; Augusta counties are matched by name, and a Augusta loan with no match is dropped, so 598 is a floor, and every Augusta rate is too.

Augusta: the study questions

For Augusta, a study tests Augusta demand within a defined trade area, since Richmond County, GA dominates Augusta loan counts. If a Augusta concept resembles full-service restaurant, Augusta offers size and lender precedent; other Augusta concepts must rest on their own Augusta evidence. Test Augusta coverage of debt service on a $400,500 loan, and on a $1.0 million loan, after pricing Augusta costs from bids. Because Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC spans GA and SC, the Augusta study compares taxes and licensing in GA and SC, then incentives on each side; the Augusta appraisal uses Augusta sales from the right side of Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC. Augusta is metropolitan, so submarkets differ, and a Augusta appraisal should use the site's own Augusta submarket comparables. Nothing printed for Augusta predicts approval; each Augusta lender still reviews a study.