Tickets well above the national figure

Dalton's loans are large against the country. Dalton loans center on $576,000. Dalton sits at 2.77x of the national figure. Dalton: half of loans span $276,000 to $1.3 million. The central half of loans reaches $1.3 million at its top edge. Dalton stands apart on median loan; Dalton clears our distinctness margin. SBA approved 143 loans across FY2017 to FY2026, $133.3 million gross, rank 384 of 928; 126 are 7(a) and 17 are 504. Brands hold 16.1% of the count. Cancellation floor and ceiling are both 7.7%.

Fuel retail tops Dalton's classes: gas station and truck stop, 12 loans, then hotel and motel at 8, liquor store at 6, and a pair at 5, automotive mechanical repair and limited-service restaurant; 81 loans sit outside the classes. Whitfield County holds 103 loans and Murray County 40. With tickets this large, a Dalton study must price cost carefully, since dollars per loan are several times the national figure. FY2017 had 20 loans and $16.3 million, FY2018 23 loans and $22.2 million, the peak count, FY2023 only 5 loans and $1.2 million, and FY2026 8 loans and $4.0 million.

Dalton lenders

Builtwell Bank holds 30 loans and $26.4 million under 7(a), well ahead of Live Oak Banking Company and The Huntington National Bank at 8 loans each, worth $11.8 million and $8.1 million. Capital Partners Certified Development Company holds 12 loans and $14.1 million on 504. Dalton lender figures are SBA's records. Dalton names hold or held those loans. Dalton counts show volume only, and Dalton counts judge no lender or requirement.

Dalton floors and the study

In Dalton, cancellations ran at least 7.7%. That covers Dalton approvals FY2017 to FY2024. Dalton reaches 7.7% with undisbursed loans included. Dalton reports no charge-off rate. Too few Dalton loans back one; Dalton is not a zero. Dalton floors rise if open Dalton loans go bad. Dalton counts by county. Dalton's members follow the July 2023 delineation. Dalton matches counties by name, Dalton drops those that fail to place, and Dalton keeps approvals outside named classes. Dalton work should size cost to large tickets, weigh pump margin and tanks at gas stations, and check licence transfer for liquor stores, always running debt service against modest revenue. Loan Analytics prepares Dalton studies. Daniel Smith, MAI, signs each Dalton study.

SBA loans in the Dalton, GA Metro Area

Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026	143
Gross dollars approved	$133.3 million
Median loan	$576,000
Middle half of loans, from	$276,000
Middle half of loans, to	$1.3 million
SBA 7(a) loans	126
SBA 504 loans	17
Franchise share of loans	16.1%
Rank among metro and micro areas by loans	384 of 928
Median loan against the national median	2.77x

Cancellation and charge-off

Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor)	7.7%
The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling)	7.7%
Charged off to date, FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed loans (a floor)	withheld

Both rates are floors. SBA withholds the status of open loans, so a loan counts as charged off only once SBA reports it; a rate needs at least 30 loans in its cohort and is otherwise not reported.

SBA loans approved in the Dalton, GA Metro Area, by fiscal year

Fiscal year	Loans	Dollars
FY2017	20	$16.3 million
FY2018	23	$22.2 million
FY2019	8	$5.5 million
FY2020	23	$24.1 million
FY2021	19	$21.6 million
FY2022	10	$15.0 million
FY2023	5	$1.2 million
FY2024	9	$9.8 million
FY2025	18	$13.7 million
FY2026	8	$4.0 million

Loans by asset class

Asset class	Loans
Not in any of the 39 asset classes	81
Gas station and truck stop	12
Hotel and motel	8
Liquor store	6
Automotive mechanical repair (car and truck)	5
Limited-service restaurant	5

Classes with 5 or more loans; smaller ones are withheld, and more where a small one could be derived.

Most active SBA lenders

SBA 504: lenders by loans approved (the current holder of each loan, as SBA reports it)
Lender	Loans	Dollars
Capital Partners Certified Development Company	12	$14.1 million

SBA 7(a): lenders by loans approved (the current holder of each loan, as SBA reports it)
Lender	Loans	Dollars
Builtwell Bank	30	$26.4 million
Live Oak Banking Company	8	$11.8 million
The Huntington National Bank	8	$8.1 million
SouthState Bank, National Association	6	$9.5 million
Embassy National Bank	6	$5.3 million

Lenders with 5 or more loans here; a lender with fewer is not listed, and loans SBA or a receiver holds are counted but never listed as a lender.

Where the loans are, by county

County	Loans
Whitfield County, GA	103
Murray County, GA	40

Counties with 5 or more loans; smaller ones are not listed.

Metro is the CBSA (metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area) of the loan's project county, July 2023 delineation (OMB Bulletin 23-01). The county is matched by name (manifests/ld2/county-cbsa-map.csv); a loan whose county cannot be placed in a 2023 CBSA is left out of every metro.

All assets: every 7(a) and 504 approval in the metro, including those outside the 39 asset classes.

A value marked withheld rests on fewer than 5 loans, or is withheld so that such a figure cannot be derived from other published figures.

Source: U.S. Small Business Administration, 7(a) and 504 loan-level FOIA files (data.sba.gov), as of 2026-09-30; areas from the U.S. Census Bureau CBSA delineation, July 2023 (OMB Bulletin 23-01); Loan Analytics metro cell MT-19140.

Related feasibility study pages

Worked examples

Worked Example: USDA B&I Hotel Acquisition Feasibility Study in Georgia

A worked example of the feasibility study a lender would read for a hotel project in Georgia, financed with a USDA Business and Industry guaranteed loan.

State: Georgia · Asset: Hotel · Program: USDA Business and Industry

Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a commercial project in the Dalton, GA Metro Area, financed under SBA 7(a), SBA 504, USDA Business and Industry or a conventional bank loan. Tell us the project and the lender's deadline, and we reply with scope, timeline and fee.

Daniel Smith, MAI

Feasibility Study Data for the Dalton, GA Metro Area