Auto Repair Shop Feasibility Study in North Dakota
What SBA's own loan files show about automotive mechanical repair (car and truck) lending in North Dakota, and what a feasibility study for a project there has to test.
North Dakota repair loans split evenly between 7(a) and 504
The program mix is the first thing to notice in North Dakota's repair shop file: 19 loans went through SBA 504 and 18 through 7(a), a far more real-estate-oriented pattern than in many states. North Dakota recorded 37 loans over FY2017 to FY2026 worth $15.4 million, 46 of 51 among states, while in the state's own mix the class holds 6 of 39, with a location quotient of 1.10x. The median of $292,000 is 1.24x the national figure; most requests fall between $75,000 and $468,000.
Lenders and places
Dakota Business Lending leads the 504 side with 9 loans worth $3.6 million, while U.S. Bank, National Association logs 5 loans worth $1.8 million under 7(a). Franchise affiliation is 0.00%. Cass County, around Fargo, has 15 loans, Grand Forks and Williams have 4 each, and McKenzie, Stark, Stutsman and Ward have 2 each. The Williams and McKenzie entries point to oil-region demand for service bays.
Cancellation has a wide range
Across FY2017 to FY2024, cancellations hit 13.3% at the floor, and rise to 20.0% if we count loans that are still undisbursed. That spread says that some of North Dakota's approvals had not funded when the data were drawn. A shop buying a building should expect a longer path from approval to closing than a working capital borrower. North Dakota has no published charge-off percentage given the thin funded group; the blank is a gap and not a zero. Volume peaked at 8 loans in FY2020 and 6 loans worth $3.7 million in FY2024.
What a North Dakota repair shop study must test
Measure demand by vehicle registrations and traffic in the service area, with attention to the farm and energy economies, which swing. Costs for the building, lifts and diagnostic tools must fit the ticket sizes already approved in the state. Coverage has to survive a downturn in oil or crop prices. Since half the loans are 504 deals, the appraisal on the building carries real weight.
Mechanical work on trucks is mixed with car repair in this class, while collision, paint, glass, lube and other automotive repair are left out.
SBA 7(a) and 504 automotive mechanical repair (car and truck) loans in North Dakota
| Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026 | 37 |
|---|---|
| Gross dollars approved | $15.4 million |
| Median loan | $292,000 |
| Middle half of loans, from | $75,000 |
| Middle half of loans, to | $468,000 |
| SBA 7(a) loans | 18 |
| SBA 504 loans | 19 |
| Franchise share of loans | 0.00% |
| Rank among states for automotive mechanical repair (car and truck) loans | 46 of 51 |
| Rank of automotive mechanical repair (car and truck) among classes in North Dakota | 6 of 39 |
| Location quotient (share of loans against the national share) | 1.10x |
| Median loan against the national median for the class | 1.24x |
Cancellation and charge-off
| Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor) | 13.3% |
|---|---|
| The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling) | 20.0% |
| Charged off to date, FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed loans (a floor) | not reported: fewer than 30 loans in the cohort |
Both rates are floors. SBA withholds the status of open loans, so a loan counts as charged off only once SBA reports it; a rate needs at least 30 loans in its cohort and is otherwise not reported.
SBA 7(a) and 504 automotive mechanical repair (car and truck) loans approved in North Dakota, by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| FY2017 | 2 | $1.2 million |
| FY2018 | 3 | $298,400 |
| FY2019 | 1 | $75,000 |
| FY2020 | 8 | $2.1 million |
| FY2021 | 2 | $913,000 |
| FY2022 | 5 | $1.7 million |
| FY2023 | 3 | $929,000 |
| FY2024 | 6 | $3.7 million |
| FY2025 | 4 | $1.4 million |
| FY2026 | 3 | $3.1 million |
Most active SBA lenders
| Lender | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| Dakota Business Lending | 9 | $3.6 million |
| Lender | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. Bank, National Association | 5 | $1.8 million |
Where the loans are, by county
| County | Loans |
|---|---|
| CASS | 15 |
| GRAND FORKS | 4 |
| WILLIAMS | 4 |
| MCKENZIE | 2 |
| STARK | 2 |
| STUTSMAN | 2 |
| WARD | 2 |
| BOTTINEAU | 1 |
| BURLEIGH | 1 |
| LOGAN | 1 |
Truck service cannot be separated from car repair. Not in this class: body, paint and interior 811121, glass 811122, oil change 811191 and all other automotive repair 811198. Shared code: Truck repair shops are indexed to 811111 with car repair.
Source: U.S. Small Business Administration, 7(a) and 504 loan-level FOIA files (data.sba.gov), as of 2026-09-30; Loan Analytics loan-outcome cell SA-ND-C28.
Related feasibility study pages
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