Brewery, Winery and Distillery Feasibility Study in the Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI Metro Area

Beverage makers around Milwaukee and Waukesha

Beverage makers (breweries, wineries and distilleries together) hold 14 of 39 in the Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI ordering of classes, and nationally the area is 31 of 443. Over FY2017 to FY2026 the area approved 29 loans, $13.4 million in gross dollars in all. A location quotient of 1.24x puts beverage makers a little above their national weight in local approvals, and its median loan, $296,000, is 1.02x the class's national median, essentially level with it.

Programs, brand status and the one holder

Programs split as 22 loans for 7(a) and 7 for 504. Franchise brands are absent (0.00%). Loans from $150,000 to $747,200 fill the middle half. Milwaukee County, WI records 21 of the 29. Among SBA 504 holders WBD, Inc. stands alone on the page, with 7 loans worth $7.0 million.

FY2021 shows 7 loans and $3.5 million. FY2026 is recorded as 0 loans and $0; with FY2026 a full fiscal year, nothing was approved in it. Years not listed rest on counts too small to publish, a different state from empty. Rates for cancelled approvals and for charge-offs are missing, because a published rate needs 30 loans in its base and this base is short of that.

Limits, and what a brewery or distillery study has to test

By its industry code, a borrower is identified as a maker of beer, wine or spirits. Nothing in it reveals a taproom, tasting room or event space on the site, though such uses can change both revenue and risk. Wineries are counted with breweries and distilleries in this class. A feasibility study should therefore state what share of revenue comes from on-site sales, from distribution and from events, test what the equipment and the building cost against a median near $296,000, check licensing and zoning for each use, and show the debt payment covered when volumes dip. Ownership of the premises, lease terms and the resale value of the equipment are what a lender will ask about. A loan counts toward the Milwaukee area when the county of its financed site is one that the July 2023 list assigns to the area. Production volume, the licences each product line needs and the shelf or tap space the product must win should be set out, with sales assumptions that a distributor or tasting-room traffic count can support.