Brewery, Winery and Distillery Feasibility Study in Illinois

Illinois beverage makers borrow above the national midpoint

Illinois breweries, wineries and distilleries take bigger SBA loans than their peers in other states: the Illinois median of $439,400 is 1.52x the national median. The class is a smaller part of Illinois lending than of the country's, with a location quotient of 0.82x, and it ranks 15 of 39 among classes in the state, while Illinois ranks 12 of 53 among states on 113 loans and $83.5 million approved from FY2017 to FY2026. None of the headline figures differs from both the Illinois record and the national class by the margin Loan Analytics requires, and a cell of this size carries real sampling noise.

Equipment, buildings and the Cook County core

The middle half of Illinois approvals spans $150,000 to $955,000. SBA 504 carried 28 loans and SBA 7(a) carried 85, and the certified development companies hold some of the biggest loans: SomerCor 504, Inc. holds 13 loans worth $21.3 million and Small Business Growth Corporation 11 worth $7.6 million. The Huntington National Bank holds 9 Illinois loans under 7(a), Live Oak Banking Company 8 worth $8.1 million, JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association 8 and Byline Bank 7 worth $7.0 million. Franchising is rare at 4.4%. Cook County holds 52 loans; DuPage follows with 11, and Kane and Lake have 8 each.

A loss floor that grows with time

Among FY2017 to FY2024 approvals, at least 15.3% were cancelled, and counting undisbursed loans adds nothing. The loss record needs a careful reading. Of the 58 loans disbursed FY2017 to FY2021, 8.6% are charged off to date, yet the rate inside five years is only 1.7%, which means most Illinois losses in this cohort arrived after year five. Both are floors while loans remain open. Because the later years carry more of the loss, an Illinois study should model the whole life of the debt and not just the opening.

Any Illinois brewery, winery or distillery plan put before a lender has to test demand on both channels, the on-site taproom or tasting room and wholesale distribution, since the industry code shows only that the borrower manufactures beverages and says nothing about where they are sold. Cost has to cover brewhouse or still equipment, licensing and build-out, with a timeline for permits. Debt service coverage should hold across the full term and through a sales plateau, given that losses here arrived late. The appraisal deserves early attention: a production building with specialised equipment can appraise well below its cost, and the lender will lend on that value.

On the data itself: an Illinois borrower's code identifies it as making beer, wine or spirits and tells us nothing more. Whether it also pours in a taproom, runs a tasting room or hosts events cannot be seen, and other manufacturers are excluded from the class.