Brewery, Winery and Distillery Feasibility Study in the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC Metro Area

Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia: large beverage-maker loans

In the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC record, makers of beer, wine and spirits are 12th of 39 classes, and the area is 25th of 443 for the class. Charlotte's file counts 34 loans and $32.1 million across FY2017 to FY2026, and Charlotte's location quotient is 1.21x, and its median of $584,050 stands at 2.01x the national median, about double the usual middle. The middle half runs from $335,000 to $1.2 million. A lender reading Charlotte sees beverage production financed at a clearly larger scale than elsewhere.

By program, Charlotte counts 27 under 7(a) and 7 under 504. Business Expansion Funding Corporation is listed as holder of 7 loans worth $8.8 million, and TowneBank as holder of 6 worth $3.7 million, both as SBA records current holders. Mecklenburg County in North Carolina has 19 of the 34 loans and Iredell County 5. The franchise share is not printed.

Years and what the code hides

FY2021 is the busiest printed year, with 10 loans worth $13.0 million, which alone is a large part of the dollars. FY2024 shows 5 loans worth $4.7 million, and FY2026, a finished year, shows 0 loans and $0. Charlotte's other years do not reach the printing line. The code tells us a business makes beer, wine or spirits and nothing of any taproom or event use; wineries sit inside the class. Cancellation and charge-off rates are absent. The area runs across two states, so a project's county, not its town, decides whether it counts here.

Between them the two named holders account for a modest part of the 34 loans. A reader should take only what is stated: SBA lists both as present holders, and the page makes no claim about how those loans were written. The takeaway for a borrower is simple: Charlotte's beverage file holds large loans, and even its middle-half floor of $335,000 sits high.

What a Charlotte beverage study must test

A study should separate production income from hospitality income, test capacity against attainable output and show the cost of equipment, building and licences. With a median of $584,050 and a high ratio to the national figure, the lender will expect the plan to justify why its request is of that scale. Debt service should be covered from wholesale and direct sales together, with a slower ramp, and an appraiser needs a stance on special-purpose buildings. Our study supplies that independent test.