Worked Example: SBA 7(a) Change of Ownership of an Express Tunnel Car Wash, Feasibility Study in Alabama
A worked example of the feasibility study a lender would read for a car wash project in Alabama, financed with an SBA 7(a) loan.
Feasibility Study Data for the Montgomery, AL Metro Area
What SBA's own loan files show about lending in the Montgomery, AL Metro Area, every asset class together, and what a feasibility study for a project there has to test.
Montgomery in the SBA loan record
Montgomery, AL logged 313 SBA approvals in FY2017 to FY2026, worth $255.2 million in gross dollars. Montgomery is a mid-table area: 233 of 928 by loans. Montgomery is read whole in Montgomery, AL, every class counted. A slice of AL is not how Montgomery is treated.
$336,000 is the Montgomery median loan, and the middle half runs $137,000 to $904,000. Montgomery sits well above the national level: its 1.62x ratio to the national median means Montgomery requests sized nationally may look small. Montgomery counts 275 loans under 7(a) and 38 under 504, so 7(a) carries the Montgomery mix. 22.7% of Montgomery loans went to franchised businesses, so a Montgomery study names the brand, if any, for Montgomery.
Classes, counties and lenders in Montgomery
Tracked Montgomery loan counts run highest in hotel and motel with 38; limited-service restaurant with 16; full-service restaurant with 12; self storage with 8. The 185 loans in no tracked class keep Montgomery totals from reading as pure property; much Montgomery borrowing funds operating businesses. Montgomery lending concentrates by county: Montgomery County, AL (224 loans), Autauga County, AL (43 loans), and Elmore County, AL (40 loans). The Huntington National Bank ($13.9 million, 18 loans); PNC Bank, National Association ($2.5 million, 17 loans); Newtek Bank, National Association ($3.8 million, 16 loans) lead 7(a) lending in Montgomery. Southern Development Council ($20.3 million, 17 loans); Florida First Capital Finance Corporation, Inc. ($8.7 million, 13 loans) lead 504 lending in Montgomery. SBA keeps records of Montgomery loans each lender holds or held; The Huntington National Bank leads with 18, and no Montgomery lender is judged.
The Montgomery series opens at 33 loans in FY2017 and closes at 45, higher than the start; its high is 45 loans ($31.9 million) in FY2026, its low 12 in FY2020. Montgomery cancellations stand at 11.2%, a floor, for Montgomery approvals in FY2017 to FY2024; Montgomery's ceiling is withheld, never zero in Montgomery. Montgomery prints no charge-off floor: of 313 loans, the cohort is too thin. Montgomery withholds it; withheld is not zero. Montgomery faces a geography limit: Montgomery, AL uses the July 2023 definition; 313 loans are matched by county, and unplaceable Montgomery loans are omitted, so Montgomery counts and rates are floors.
Montgomery: testing a project
Any Montgomery study defines its Montgomery trade area first, since lending in Montgomery County, AL differs from lending across Montgomery, AL. Hotel and motel projects have the most local record in Montgomery, and other Montgomery concepts cannot borrow credibility from these Montgomery counts. Montgomery quotes should price construction and equipment. Then Montgomery debt service coverage is tested at $336,000, and again at $904,000. Montgomery is metropolitan; a Montgomery appraisal belongs in one submarket, not behind Montgomery averages. Nothing printed for Montgomery predicts approval; each Montgomery lender still reviews a study.
SBA loans in the Montgomery, AL Metro Area
| Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026 | 313 |
|---|---|
| Gross dollars approved | $255.2 million |
| Median loan | $336,000 |
| Middle half of loans, from | $137,000 |
| Middle half of loans, to | $904,000 |
| SBA 7(a) loans | 275 |
| SBA 504 loans | 38 |
| Franchise share of loans | 22.7% |
| Rank among metro and micro areas by loans | 233 of 928 |
| Median loan against the national median | 1.62x |
Cancellation and charge-off
| Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor) | 11.2% |
|---|---|
| The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling) | withheld |
| 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 Montgomery, AL Metro Area, by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| FY2017 | 33 | $18.9 million |
| FY2018 | 34 | $30.0 million |
| FY2019 | 21 | $10.2 million |
| FY2020 | 12 | $14.5 million |
| FY2021 | 36 | $33.0 million |
| FY2022 | 22 | $13.9 million |
| FY2023 | 37 | $33.3 million |
| FY2024 | 38 | $30.8 million |
| FY2025 | 35 | $38.9 million |
| FY2026 | 45 | $31.9 million |
Loans by asset class
| Asset class | Loans |
|---|---|
| Not in any of the 39 asset classes | 185 |
| Hotel and motel | 38 |
| Limited-service restaurant | 16 |
| Full-service restaurant | 12 |
| Self storage | 8 |
| Fitness center | 7 |
| Automotive mechanical repair (car and truck) | 6 |
| Rehabilitation and therapy clinic | 5 |
Classes with 5 or more loans; smaller ones are withheld, and more where a small one could be derived.
Most active SBA lenders
| Lender | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| Southern Development Council | 17 | $20.3 million |
| Florida First Capital Finance Corporation, Inc. | 13 | $8.7 million |
| Lender | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| The Huntington National Bank | 18 | $13.9 million |
| PNC Bank, National Association | 17 | $2.5 million |
| Newtek Bank, National Association | 16 | $3.8 million |
| Northeast Bank (ME) | 16 | $2.0 million |
| Wells Fargo Bank National Association | 16 | $185,000 |
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 |
|---|---|
| Montgomery County, AL | 224 |
| Autauga County, AL | 43 |
| Elmore County, AL | 40 |
| Lowndes County, AL | 6 |
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-33860.
Related feasibility study pages
- Alabama feasibility study company
- Feasibility Study Data by Metro Area
- SBA feasibility study company
- Feasibility Study Data for the Birmingham, AL Metro Area
- Feasibility Study Data for the Huntsville, AL Metro Area
- Feasibility Study Data for the Mobile, AL Metro Area
- Feasibility Study Data for the Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL Metro Area
- Feasibility Study Data for the Auburn-Opelika, AL Metro Area
- Feasibility Study Data for the Tuscaloosa, AL Metro Area
- Feasibility Study Data for the Dothan, AL Metro Area
- Feasibility Study Data for the Decatur, AL Metro Area
Feasibility study data by asset class in the Montgomery, AL Metro Area
Worked examples
Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a commercial project in the Montgomery, AL 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.
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