Auto Repair Shop Feasibility Study in the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metro Area

Repair shops with a heavy 504 share in the Twin Cities

The Twin Cities area holds 246 car and truck mechanical repair loans from FY2017 to FY2026, worth $107.1 million, and the class ranks 7 of 660 among the country's metro and micro areas. Locally the class takes fourth place among 39. With a location quotient of 1.12x, the metro shows repair shops taking a slightly larger share of lending than they do nationally, and the median loan of $270,250 is 1.15x the class midpoint nationwide. Loans between the quartiles run $90,000 to $548,750. By program, 69 of the 246 loans are SBA 504 and 177 are SBA 7(a).

Development companies and banks

Four certified development companies show up in the 504 table. Twin Cities-Metro Certified Development Company is listed at 24 loans and $13.3 million, Midwest Business Finance Corporation and Amplio Economic Development Corporation at 14 loans each, worth $6.1 million and $4.3 million, and WBD, Inc. at 9 loans and $5.8 million. Over on 7(a), U.S. Bank, National Association holds 35 loans worth $10.4 million, Old National Bank with 10 worth $9.5 million, 21st Century Bank with 9 worth $3.7 million, and Platinum Bank and Wells Fargo Bank National Association with 7 each, worth $3.9 million and $3.2 million. Such listings only attribute loans to holders in SBA's data.

Geography, franchises and the shared code

Hennepin County has 59 loans and Ramsey 43, ahead of Anoka with 31 and Dakota with 27, while Wisconsin's St. Croix County has 8. Franchised shops account for 9.3% of loans. Cars and trucks sit under one repair code, so Twin Cities heavy-truck work cannot be pulled out of this cell; say in the study whether trucks are in the plan, because bay height, equipment and customer base differ. Annual counts stay in a band from 14 loans in FY2023 up to 35 in FY2022, and FY2025 shows 30 loans and $14.3 million.

Floors, gaps and the study

Cancellations run to 8.9% or more among approvals made FY2017 to FY2024; later facts can only raise it, so it is a floor. Missing from view are a cancellation ceiling together with a charge-off rate, since the Minneapolis cohorts are too small, and missing never means nil. Membership in this metro area rests on each project county's name matching the 2023 map. Underwriting a Twin Cities repair shop leaves the study with local vehicle counts and competing shops, technician hiring and wages, equipment spend, environmental compliance, debt service coverage at the loans between the quartiles, and a valuation that keeps a special-purpose building apart from the going concern.