Auto Repair Shop Feasibility Study in Oregon

Smaller tickets than repair shops nationally

The striking feature of Oregon's repair shop lending is how small most of it is. Across 160 SBA approvals from FY2017 to FY2026, totalling $67.9 million, the Oregon median is $125,000, only 0.53x the national median for car and truck mechanical repair, and the lower edge of the middle half is just $25,000. That middle band reaches up to $579,150, so many small working capital and equipment credits sit beside a thinner run of property and acquisition loans. Our test still does not mark the median distinct, because it must differ from both Oregon's all-class lending and the national class; a median this far under the national figure that fails the test implies small tickets are an Oregon habit more than a repair shop one.

Cancellation is common and losses so far are not. Of Oregon shop approvals from FY2017 through FY2024, 14.8% were cancelled, a floor, and folding in loans not yet disbursed leaves the Oregon ceiling unchanged at 14.8%. Many borrowers who held a commitment never closed. Charge-offs run the other way: among 62 Oregon shop loans disbursed in FY2017 through FY2021, the floor is 0.00%, with 0.00% in the first five years, and both can still rise. The risk in this cell sits before funding rather than after it.

Holders of Oregon repair shop loans

SBA 7(a) carried 140 approvals against 20 under SBA 504. Columbia Bank is current holder of 43 loans under 7(a), worth $6.0 million, and U.S. Bank, National Association holds 25 worth $5.0 million, both books built on small credits. KeyBank National Association holds 8 and Banner Bank 7, the latter totalling only $307,900, while Enterprise Bank & Trust holds 6 for $7.6 million, a holder evidently financing buildings and whole businesses. Evergreen Business Capital leads Oregon's 504 holders with 10 loans worth $4.6 million. Oregon is 23 of 51 states by shop loan count, its location quotient 0.95x, and shops stand 4 of 39 among Oregon classes. Franchises are 3.8% of the count. Approvals climbed to 28 in FY2025 and 24 in FY2026 after running between 10 and 19 a year before.

Testing an Oregon shop project

Multnomah County leads with 32 approvals, then Clackamas with 24, Marion and Washington counties with 20 each and Lane with 14, so most Oregon demand cases will be argued in the Willamette Valley. The Oregon study has to show the trade area can absorb more bays, using vehicle counts, fleet contracts and the competitors already open. The cost side needs current equipment and tenant improvement quotes and a real working capital line, since an undercapitalized opening is the likeliest failure for a loan this small. Test debt service coverage on a slow first year of car counts. Where the loan buys property, the appraiser must price the garage as special purpose real estate, by itself. On coding, Oregon truck service sits inside the car repair code, while shops that straighten bodywork, replace windshields, change oil while you wait or carry the leftover automotive repair code belong to other classes and are left out here.