Brewery, Winery and Distillery Feasibility Study in the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metro Area

The first beverage-manufacturing market in the country

Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington takes first place, 1 of 443, across all metro and micro areas for SBA beverage manufacturing loans, with 144 approvals worth $86.8 million for FY2017 to FY2026. Inside the market the class takes 7 of 39; its location quotient of 1.87x shows brewing, winemaking and distilling as a far bigger piece of local lending than of the national mix, so lenders here know the type. The franchise share prints as 0.00%, which fits a craft industry of independent producers.

The median is $349,000, 1.20x on a national basis for the class, and the middle of the distribution runs $150,000 to $740,250. SBA 7(a) carried 121 loans and SBA 504 carried 23, a real fixed-asset side for tanks, barrels and buildings. The code records only that the sponsor makes beer, wine or spirits, so taprooms, tasting rooms and event income cannot be seen, and the class was narrowed to three manufacturing codes with wineries included.

Lenders and counties

BankVista leads SBA 7(a) with 15 loans and $8.3 million. Sunrise Banks National Association and Minnwest Bank hold 12 each, Old National Bank 11 and Pioneer Bank (MN) 7. For SBA 504, Amplio Economic Development Corporation holds 6 loans and $3.8 million, Twin Cities-Metro Certified Development Company 5 and $5.5 million, and Midwest Business Finance Corporation 5 with $7.2 million. These are SBA's holder records. Hennepin County, MN has 66 loans, Ramsey County, MN 19, Dakota County, MN 15, Washington County, MN 8, Sherburne County, MN 7, and Scott County, MN, Wright County, MN and St. Croix County, WI 5 each.

The FY2017 to FY2024 approvals show cancellations from 10.4%; SBA publishes neither a top limit nor a charge-off rate, so no blank is nil. The yearly table also omits FY2025 and FY2026 for the same reason. Years shown run from 24 loans and $8.6 million in FY2017 through 13 in FY2020 to 19 loans and $16.4 million in FY2021 and 14 loans and $6.1 million in FY2024. The 2023 delineation, matched to project counties, sets the Twin Cities totals.

Testing a Twin Cities beverage producer

A study should probe taproom traffic and distribution, which the industry code cannot show, near the site in Hennepin or Ramsey County. Tanks, barrels, licensing and build-out must be priced against $349,000. Volume, wholesale margin and taproom sales must carry debt service, and an appraiser treats the building and the equipment apart. Any Minneapolis request meets our desk; Daniel Smith, MAI, stands behind it, so treat the 144 approvals as background and nothing more.