Brewery, Winery and Distillery Feasibility Study in Colorado

Colorado's beverage makers borrow at the high end

Colorado breweries, wineries and distilleries take SBA loans that are large for their class. The median approval is $487,350, or 1.68x the national median for beverage manufacturing, and our screen sets that median apart from both the Colorado record across all classes and beverage makers nationwide. Half of all Colorado approvals fall between $183,250 and $898,750. In volume Colorado is unremarkable for the class: 108 loans and $83.2 million from FY2017 to FY2026 put it 14 of 53 among states and 14 of 39 among its own classes, and a location quotient of 1.06x is close to the national share.

A 7(a) market with no franchise system

SBA 7(a) carries 95 of the loans and SBA 504 carries 13, and franchising does not exist in the cell, at 0.00%. Live Oak Banking Company leads with 12 loans worth $9.2 million, JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association holds 9 for $6.1 million, and First National Bank of Omaha holds 7 that total only $783,300, the profile of equipment or working capital lines. Wells Fargo Bank National Association and BMO Bank National Association hold 5 each, for $3.6 million and $3.1 million. No certified development company appears with enough loans to list. Jefferson County leads with 18 loans, then Denver with 13, Boulder and El Paso with 11 each, Larimer with 9, and Douglas and Eagle with 6 each.

The outcome record pulls opposite ways. Cancellation is heavy: at least 16.3% of approvals from FY2017 to FY2024 were cancelled, rising to 17.4% when undisbursed loans count. Losses are light: the 57 Colorado loans that funded between FY2017 and FY2021 carry a charge-off floor of 1.8% to date and 0.00% inside five years. Both are floors, and an open loan can still go bad. For a borrower, the lesson is that Colorado deals in this class more often fall apart before closing than after it, which points to permits, equipment lead times and the build budget. Volume peaked at 22 loans and $15.3 million in FY2018 and fell to 4 loans and $2.5 million in FY2024.

What a Colorado production study has to test

A feasibility study for a brewery, winery or distillery here has to support a ticket near the top of the national range. Demand should cover both wholesale distribution and any taproom or tasting room sales, tested against the producers already selling in the same county and channel. Cost testing should cover the brewhouse or still, tanks, the building and licensing time, since cancellations are where this cell's risk shows. Debt service coverage needs production volumes the equipment can actually reach, and the appraisal will lean on real estate and equipment value more than on goodwill. One limit applies: the industry code tells us a Colorado borrower produces beer, wine or spirits and nothing more, which hides any taproom, tasting room or events side of the business, and other kinds of manufacturing sit outside this class.