Very small loans and few franchises

Keene, NH is a micropolitan area made up of Cheshire County, NH, with 246 loans and $66.1 million from FY2017 to FY2026, ranking 275 of 928. It is a market of very small loans, with a $111,500 median at just 0.54x the national level and a middle band of $40,000 to $300,000; just 4.1% of its loans carry a franchise brand. The book consists mainly of independent local businesses.

Most loans, 198, belong to no tracked class. Among the named ones come full-service restaurant on 10, limited-service restaurant on 8 and automotive mechanical repair on 6, so the class table says little here. Programme mix is 196 under 7(a) and 50 under 504, and the 504 side is held almost entirely by one institution, Granite State Economic Development Corporation, with 45 loans worth $14.9 million. Cheshire County holds all 246 loans, and 50 of them are 504, so a Keene study that needs real estate financing has a local intermediary on record.

Holders

SBA's records show who holds or held each loan; they are a locator rather than a verdict. TD Bank, National Association holds 56 7(a) loans worth $6.4 million, Savings Bank of Walpole 35 worth $8.9 million, Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company 22 worth $3.1 million, Mascoma Bank 17 worth $2.6 million and Service FCU 10 worth $612,900. Savings Bank of Walpole averages larger loans than TD Bank in these records.

Of the approvals through FY2024, no fewer than 9.5% were cancelled afterwards. Out of 102 funded loans, 4.9% carry a charge-off so far, again a floor. Keene's matching ceiling and five-year charge-off rate are not in SBA's release; we neither estimate them nor treat them as nil. Approvals reached 37 loans and $9.8 million in FY2025, up from 19 loans in FY2018 and FY2020.

Implications for a Keene study

A study should show that local demand, without brand support, justifies the project, and that cost fits the very small loans typical here. For real estate, the study should note how concentrated 504 activity is. Debt service must hold at the charge-off floor, and an appraisal must support value. Cheshire County is taken from the 2023 delineation. Nothing written here predicts whether a lender will approve.

SBA loans in the Keene, NH Micro Area

Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026	246
Gross dollars approved	$66.1 million
Median loan	$111,500
Middle half of loans, from	$40,000
Middle half of loans, to	$300,000
SBA 7(a) loans	196
SBA 504 loans	50
Franchise share of loans	4.1%
Rank among metro and micro areas by loans	275 of 928
Median loan against the national median	0.54x

Cancellation and charge-off

Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor)	9.5%
The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling)	withheld
Charged off to date, FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed loans (a floor)	4.9%
Charged off within five years of approval	withheld
Loans in that cohort	102

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 Keene, NH Micro Area, by fiscal year

Fiscal year	Loans	Dollars
FY2017	25	$4.1 million
FY2018	19	$5.1 million
FY2019	27	$7.2 million
FY2020	19	$6.1 million
FY2021	25	$5.5 million
FY2022	23	$8.7 million
FY2023	20	$5.4 million
FY2024	21	$6.5 million
FY2025	37	$9.8 million
FY2026	30	$7.6 million

Loans by asset class

Asset class	Loans
Not in any of the 39 asset classes	198
Full-service restaurant	10
Limited-service restaurant	8
Automotive mechanical repair (car and truck)	6

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
Granite State Economic Development Corporation	45	$14.9 million

SBA 7(a): lenders by loans approved (the current holder of each loan, as SBA reports it)
Lender	Loans	Dollars
TD Bank, National Association	56	$6.4 million
Savings Bank of Walpole	35	$8.9 million
Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company	22	$3.1 million
Mascoma Bank	17	$2.6 million
Service FCU	10	$612,900

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
Cheshire County, NH	246

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-28300.

Related feasibility study pages

Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a commercial project in the Keene, NH Micro 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 Keene, NH Micro Area