Brewery, Winery and Distillery Feasibility Study in Rhode Island

A class Rhode Island finances more than most, at the national loan size

Beverage manufacturing, covering breweries, wineries and distilleries, shows up in Rhode Island at 1.47x the national share of loans, and the class sits at 12 of 39 in Rhode Island. The state itself is 33 of 53 by loan count. The median loan of $292,500 is 1.01x the national median, so Rhode Island borrowers borrow almost exactly what their counterparts do elsewhere. From FY2017 to FY2026 SBA approved 26 loans worth $12.7 million, with a middle half from $140,375 to $607,150.

Programs and places

Eighteen of them are SBA 7(a) loans, set against the 8 under SBA 504. Franchising is absent, at 0.00%, as it is for most producers. Santander Bank, National Association is the leading 7(a) lender, with 5 loans and $1.4 million. Washington County has 11 of the loans, and Bristol and Providence have 7 each, with Kent at 1. The yearly counts run unevenly: 5 each in FY2018, FY2019 and FY2022, but none in FY2020 and FY2025.

What the code can and cannot show

The code tells us only that the borrower brews, ferments or distils; a taproom, tasting room or event space is invisible in it, so a loan may finance a production plant, a visitor-facing room or both. Wineries are included in this class. Rhode Island's cancellation and charge-off rates are not published, as the cohort is too small, and neither is nil.

Tests for a Rhode Island producer

A producer's study has to test the production side and the retail side separately. On production, the study should size the equipment, the water and waste handling, and the federal and state permits that control when sales can begin. On retail, it should test the tasting room: the foot traffic, the local rules on serving and hours, and how much revenue comes from on-site sales compared with distribution. A taproom can carry a small producer; wholesale competition is harder to enter. Costs should be set against a loan that usually runs near the national norm, and the ability to pay the loan should be shown at cautious output with a slow ramp. The appraisal will value equipment and building separately, so the study should present them that way.