Feasibility Study Data for the Erie, PA Metro Area

The Erie record in brief

For Erie, SBA's own files hold 341 loans from FY2017 through FY2026, worth $144.1 million in gross approvals. Erie sits among all metro and micro areas, on volume, number 221 of 928. Half of Erie loans, the middle ones, sits between $50,000 and $365,000, centred on a median near $146,400; so the median stands at 0.70x the nationwide median. In Erie, SBA 7(a) accounts for 319 loans, and 22 by way of SBA 504. Beyond that, franchise brands account for 13.5% of the record.

Erie: classes and places

For the record, within the tracked classes we track for Erie, the leader is limited-service restaurant with 21 loans, trailed by hotel and motel, 11 loans and beverage manufacturing with 10. Another 249 loans in Erie belong to no named class. Notably, all the lending in Erie sits in Erie County, PA, at 341 loans, which makes our work for this area a single-county exercise.

Erie: names SBA lists

Institutions named for Erie are copied from SBA's own Erie records of the 341 SBA loans in Erie, whoever holds or held them; the entries place each position but offer nothing on what lenders require. In the same files, under 7(a) in Erie, the biggest holders are Northwest Bank (PA), holding 108 loans worth $36.1 million; after it, The Huntington National Bank, with 78 loans for $9.6 million. In the 504 program near Erie County, PA, SBA names Empire State Certified Development Corporation ($14.5 million across 14 loans). An applicant in Erie should ask Erie's listed holder Northwest Bank (PA) or any other Erie holder near Erie County, PA what evidence it wants, then write the Erie study to meet those answers.

Erie: what followed approval

Among Erie approvals from FY2017 through FY2024, not below 12.8% ended in cancellation after approval in Erie, and that is a floor; the real Erie share can only be higher. Notably, a loss rate from charge-off for lending in Erie is left blank in the files, as too few Erie loans reached disbursement. That absence, across Erie, cannot be read as no losses. Over the decade, Erie reached its high in FY2023 at 46 loans and $11.2 million, and hit its low in FY2026 at 16 loans and $17.2 million.

Erie: testing a project

In Erie, demand comes first: who shops in Erie County, PA, who comes in from outside, measured against Erie overall, and whether limited-service restaurant, with 21 loans, leaves any room. On cost: $146,400 is the Erie median and $50,000 to $365,000 the middle half, so a Erie County, PA site should cost itself against this $146,400 midpoint. Then coverage: Erie repayment survives a sluggish year against the 12.8% cancellation rate and the charge-off floor for Erie, which is also kept back for want of enough loans. The appraisal for Erie needs to agree with the value assumed. Erie uses the July 2023 map; a record whose home county is unmapped appears in none of all areas, Erie no exception, though the totals include loans beyond the named classes.