Brewery, Winery and Distillery Feasibility Study in the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX Metro Area

Austin's drinks producers: a bigger ticket than the nation's

Texas capital-region producers of beer, wine and spirits took 42 SBA loans, $40.6 million in all, across FY2017 to FY2026. Within Austin the class is 12 of 39, and the metro stands 20 of 443 for beverage manufacturing loans, with a location quotient of 1.31x that shows a heavier weight than nationally. The median loan is $500,000, 1.72x the class median nationwide, so Austin producers borrow a good deal more than producers elsewhere.

What the class contains

This class includes wineries alongside breweries and distilleries. The middle half of amounts is bounded by $199,250 and $1.1 million. Program counts are 34 for 7(a) and 8 for 504, while franchising is absent here at 0.00%. No 7(a) holder reaches the naming threshold.

Travis County supplies 21 of the loans and Williamson County 9. Printed volume covers only the early years: 7 loans in FY2017 ($9.3 million), 7 in FY2018 ($6.5 million), 5 in FY2019 ($4.1 million), 5 in FY2020 ($2.2 million) and 5 in FY2021 ($4.8 million). FY2022 through FY2026 stay hidden under Loan Analytics' small-count rule, which leaves recent activity undescribed, and both outcome rates are withheld as well. Withheld never means zero. The metro takes in a loan through its project county on the 2023 list.

Two features of the record call for care. First, the class takes in wineries as well as breweries and distilleries, so the figures describe a wider group than beer and spirits alone. Second, producers sell through channels that change what a loan is for: a taproom is a restaurant-like business, a distribution brewery is a manufacturer, and the numbers here do not separate them. A study should say which model it follows and tie its sales forecast to that choice, with inventory and aging time shown in the cash flow.

Testing a production facility

A plan for a taproom, cellar or still house has to keep the production facility apart from the tasting room and distribution plan. It must test capacity against realistic sales, the cost of equipment, buildings and permits against a median of $500,000, aging time and inventory carrying cost where the product is held, and the channel mix between taproom, retail and wholesale. Debt service must be covered through the period before production reaches saleable volume. Licensing under federal and state rules takes time and belongs in the schedule. An appraiser will treat land and building, tanks and kit, and the operating business as distinct pieces of value. Nothing here predicts an approval.