Worked Example: SBA 504 Car Wash Feasibility Study in Montana, Two Self-Serve Bays and One In-Bay Automatic
A worked example of the feasibility study a lender would read for a car wash project in Montana, financed with an SBA 504 loan.
Feasibility Study Data for the Billings, MT Metro Area
What SBA's own loan files show about lending in the Billings, MT Metro Area, every asset class together, and what a feasibility study for a project there has to test.
Billings: the size of the record
$291.9 million over 648 loans is the Billings total, FY2017 through FY2026. 142 of 928 is the Billings place when areas are ordered by loans. Billings loans center on $176,350, the median. $60,475 to $480,750 spans the Billings middle half. The Billings median sits at 0.85x nationally. Program mix for Billings: 576 7(a), 72 504. 8.6% of the loans in Billings carry a franchise brand. Those 648 Billings loans carry $291.9 million.
Billings: classes and counties
The busiest classes in Billings are full-service restaurant (24), limited-service restaurant (20), and fitness center (16). Fourth in Billings is automotive mechanical repair, with 15 loans. 475 loans in Billings fit no class, so Billings class patterns say less. By county, Billings loans concentrate in Yellowstone County, MT (563), Carbon County, MT (65), and Stillwater County, MT (20).
Billings: SBA holders
Billings holders are not always Billings originators. Billings 7(a) holders include The Yellowstone Bank (130 loans, $57.3 million), Glacier Bank (116 loans, $28.7 million), and Bank of Bridger National Association (70 loans, $10.3 million). Among Billings 504 holders: Big Sky Economic Development Corporation with 38 loans ($35.2 million) and Capital Matrix, Inc. with 15 loans ($13.8 million). A Billings borrower reads these rows as context. The Billings rows are silent on holder terms.
Billings: floors, and what is withheld
Of Billings approvals from FY2017 to FY2024, 9.5% were cancelled, a floor. Billings withholds a ceiling: Billings loans are too few. Billings charge-offs: 1.9% among 364 loans disbursed FY2017 to FY2021, a floor. Billings withholds a five-year rate: Billings loans are too few. Treat Billings rates as floors. Later events lift them, Billings included. County names place the Billings loans. The July 2023 delineation defines Billings. If a county fails to match, Billings omits it. Billings totals count loans outside the tracked classes.
Billings: testing a project
The Billings trend peaks in FY2021 with 104 loans ($53.9 million) and bottoms in FY2026 with 38 ($25.6 million). FY2017 opened the Billings series with 103 loans ($20.5 million). The latest year, FY2026, shows 38 loans and $25.6 million for Billings. In Billings, demand testing starts with Yellowstone County, MT and the businesses already serving it. The Billings median is $176,350. Set Billings budgets beside it; nationally it is 0.85x. Billings debt service gets a rate shock. The Billings floors above explain the caution. Billings appraisal evidence comes from area sales. Billings income evidence sits beside it. Absorption near Yellowstone County, MT is tested for Billings on a slow case. The Billings study states its limits beside Yellowstone County, MT findings.
SBA loans in the Billings, MT Metro Area
| Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026 | 648 |
|---|---|
| Gross dollars approved | $291.9 million |
| Median loan | $176,350 |
| Middle half of loans, from | $60,475 |
| Middle half of loans, to | $480,750 |
| SBA 7(a) loans | 576 |
| SBA 504 loans | 72 |
| Franchise share of loans | 8.6% |
| Rank among metro and micro areas by loans | 142 of 928 |
| Median loan against the national median | 0.85x |
Cancellation and charge-off
| Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor) | 9.5% |
|---|---|
| The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling) | withheld |
| Charged off to date, FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed loans (a floor) | 1.9% |
| Charged off within five years of approval | withheld |
| Loans in that cohort | 364 |
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 loans approved in the Billings, MT Metro Area, by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| FY2017 | 103 | $20.5 million |
| FY2018 | 76 | $20.0 million |
| FY2019 | 58 | $14.1 million |
| FY2020 | 56 | $23.0 million |
| FY2021 | 104 | $53.9 million |
| FY2022 | 47 | $32.6 million |
| FY2023 | 47 | $26.8 million |
| FY2024 | 58 | $34.8 million |
| FY2025 | 61 | $40.7 million |
| FY2026 | 38 | $25.6 million |
Loans by asset class
| Asset class | Loans |
|---|---|
| Not in any of the 39 asset classes | 475 |
| Full-service restaurant | 24 |
| Limited-service restaurant | 20 |
| Fitness center | 16 |
| Automotive mechanical repair (car and truck) | 15 |
| Coffee shop and snack bar | 14 |
| Hotel and motel | 9 |
| Veterinary clinic | 9 |
| Gas station and truck stop | 8 |
| Car wash | 8 |
| Dental office | 8 |
| Beverage manufacturing (breweries, wineries, distilleries) | 7 |
| Child care center | 6 |
Classes with 5 or more loans; smaller ones are withheld, and more where a small one could be derived.
Most active SBA lenders
| Lender | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| Big Sky Economic Development Corporation | 38 | $35.2 million |
| Capital Matrix, Inc. | 15 | $13.8 million |
| Dakota Business Lending | 13 | $11.6 million |
| Lender | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| The Yellowstone Bank | 130 | $57.3 million |
| Glacier Bank | 116 | $28.7 million |
| Bank of Bridger National Association | 70 | $10.3 million |
| Stockman Bank of Montana | 51 | $14.7 million |
| First Interstate Bank | 37 | $13.8 million |
Lenders with 5 or more loans here; a lender with fewer is not listed, and loans SBA or a receiver holds are counted but never listed as a lender.
Where the loans are, by county
| County | Loans |
|---|---|
| Yellowstone County, MT | 563 |
| Carbon County, MT | 65 |
| Stillwater County, MT | 20 |
Counties with 5 or more loans; smaller ones are not listed.
Metro is the CBSA (metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area) of the loan's project county, July 2023 delineation (OMB Bulletin 23-01). The county is matched by name (manifests/ld2/county-cbsa-map.csv); a loan whose county cannot be placed in a 2023 CBSA is left out of every metro.
All assets: every 7(a) and 504 approval in the metro, including those outside the 39 asset classes.
A value marked withheld rests on fewer than 5 loans, or is withheld so that such a figure cannot be derived from other published figures.
Source: U.S. Small Business Administration, 7(a) and 504 loan-level FOIA files (data.sba.gov), as of 2026-09-30; areas from the U.S. Census Bureau CBSA delineation, July 2023 (OMB Bulletin 23-01); Loan Analytics metro cell MT-13740.
Related feasibility study pages
- Feasibility study data and consultants for Montana
- Feasibility Study Data by Metro Area
- Feasibility studies for SBA 7(a) and 504 loans
- Feasibility Study Data for the Bozeman, MT Metro Area
- Feasibility Study Data for the Kalispell, MT Micro Area
- Feasibility Study Data for the Missoula, MT Metro Area
- Feasibility Study Data for the Helena, MT Metro Area
- Feasibility Study Data for the Great Falls, MT Metro Area
Worked examples
Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a commercial project in the Billings, MT Metro Area, financed under SBA 7(a), SBA 504, USDA Business and Industry or a conventional bank loan. Tell us the project and the lender's deadline, and we reply with scope, timeline and fee.
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