Feasibility Study Data for the Baton Rouge, LA Metro Area

The scale of lending in Baton Rouge

963 approvals across Baton Rouge, LA from FY2017 through FY2026 add up to $580.1 million in gross dollars. In turn, Baton Rouge comes in at 100 of 928 against all core-based areas counted by loans. Worth noting: $250,000 sets the midpoint; the middle half spans $104,750 to $623,300. The median here is 1.20x of the nation's median, so a usual ticket lands higher than the usual national size. Next, Baton Rouge keeps to projects inside its borders, never the blend a state page gives: 963 approvals overall.

Programs, franchises and lenders in Baton Rouge

937 7(a) approvals compare with 26 loans in 504. Beyond that, 16.0% of all approvals go to franchisees here. Beyond that, for 7(a) lending, the biggest lending names by approvals come out as Hancock Whitney Bank holding 60 loans for $20.5 million, JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association with 56 loans worth $13.0 million, and Essential Credit Union at 53 loans worth $3.5 million. Beyond that, within 504 approvals, the leading CDCs by count rank as Louisiana Capital Certified Development Company, Inc. with 9 loans totalling $3.1 million then Community Certified Development Corporation with 7 loans worth $4.4 million. Also, these names come from SBA records covering 963 loans; they describe loans approved alone, not the standards that lenders want around Baton Rouge.

Where the loans sit in Baton Rouge

Full-service restaurant at 40, 37 for limited-service restaurant, 31 for child care center, and 28 for hotel and motel come first among the classes by approvals. Worth noting: 685 loans lie beyond the named classes, so the Baton Rouge total covers more than the class list. For context, 5 approvals in grocery store inside Baton Rouge are too few for a pattern. Separately, by county, East Baton Rouge Parish (561), Ascension Parish (192); and Livingston Parish (120) come first. In turn, across the years, FY2017 leads off at 91 loans and $49.4 million; FY2025 is the busiest year at 122 loans and $70.0 million, then FY2026, whose year closed on 2026-09-30, ends the file at 114 loans and $70.3 million.

What the floors allow in Baton Rouge

13.3% among FY2017 to FY2024 loans in Baton Rouge have been cancelled after approval before they funded, and that is a floor. For context, the upper figure on this page is withheld, leaving the floor alone. In practice, 7.3% among FY2017 through FY2021 disbursed loans in Baton Rouge have been charged off, a floor; 3.4% went to charge-off before the fifth year ended after approval, in a cohort of 384 loans. Also, read every rate on this page as a minimum, since loans approved lately got scant time to cancel or go bad, across 963 loans. Also, each area here follows the CBSA containing the loan's county of project, from July 2023 boundaries as published; the counties get matched by name, so a record whose site county has no CBSA is absent from every area by design. Separately, whatever its class, any loan under either program in Baton Rouge is counted into its $580.1 million total.

Testing a project in Baton Rouge

In Baton Rouge, a feasibility study for a project must begin with the particular site, and not the 963-loan file. Local demand in Baton Rouge comes first: will Baton Rouge's surrounding market support the sales in the plan, net of nearby competition around East Baton Rouge Parish? In addition, the local median is 1.20x compared with the country's median, so local prices could run ahead in many cases; the cost section prices the scope against figures from nearby trades. Debt service coverage links sales to outlay for Baton Rouge: projected operating income set against loan payments, plus a stress case. Then, the appraisal completes the test for Baton Rouge: the value of the collateral must cover the sum sought. Also, a sponsor holding an arm's-length feasibility study of Baton Rouge, when first approaching any lender, has answered these rates early; the verdict sits with SBA's reviewers and the lender in Baton Rouge, not the author of a study.