Gas Station Feasibility Study in the Fresno, CA Metro Area

Fresno: fuel lending at five and a half times the national weight

With a location quotient of 5.49x, gas stations and truck stops carry more than five times their national share of lending in the Fresno area. Across FY2017 to FY2026 SBA approved 99 loans valued at $210.8 million, first among Fresno's 39 classes and 10 of 600 areas nationally. The median loan of $1.8 million is 1.68x the national midpoint for the class, between quartiles of $975,000 and $3.1 million, and 61.6% of loans carry a franchise flag.

A tight cancellation range and the shared code

Cancellation after approval is 20.8% for FY2017 to FY2024 approved loans as a floor, and 20.8% again when undisbursed loans are counted as cancelled, which leaves no gap between the bounds, and the figure is settled. Fresno's charge-off percentage is held back because the base is small, and a held-back value is not a zero. The industry code is the applicant's own: gas stations without a store, truck stops and travel centers all fall under it and cannot be split out, so a study should say which format it describes.

Lenders and counties

Of the 99 loans, 84 are 7(a) and 15 are 504. Celtic Bank Corporation is credited with 25 7(a) loans worth $70.0 million, Commonwealth Business Bank with 13 worth $24.0 million, West Coast Community Bank with 6 worth $15.6 million, East West Bank with 5 worth $9.5 million and Citizens Business Bank National Association with 5 worth $4.7 million. These are SBA records of holders only. Fresno County has 71 loans and Madera County 28. Printed yearly counts run from 10 to 14 loans, with a dollar peak of $37.9 million in FY2023; some years are withheld for thin counts.

What the study has to prove

A fuel project in the Fresno market needs a study that goes beyond the class averages. It should test fuel volume and traffic on the specific corridor, whether shop sales can carry the thin fuel margin, the supply contract and any brand image or equipment obligations, the cost of tanks and their compliance, the real estate value at a ticket near the median, and whether cash flow can carry repayment when fuel margins narrow. One rule decides which loans appear: a loan is counted only where the 2023 metro map recognises the name of the project county.