Worked Example: SBA 7(a) Assisted Living Feasibility Study in Utah
A worked example of the feasibility study a lender would read for an assisted living project in Utah, financed with an SBA 7(a) loan.
What SBA's own loan files show about lending in the Ogden, UT Metro Area, every asset class together, and what a feasibility study for a project there has to test.
1,796 approvals within Ogden, UT between FY2017 and FY2026 carry $1.04 billion gross. In turn, Ogden ranks 60 of 928 within the complete list of metro and micro areas by loan count. In practice, $280,850 is the midpoint; the inner half extends from $100,000 to $667,000. In turn, the local median is 1.35x in proportion to the nation's median, meaning loans tend to run more than the usual national size. Then, Ogden counts only its home counties, not a state's mix of markets: 1,796 loans in all.
1,388 SBA 7(a) loans stand against 408 approvals under 504. 12.9% of the loans on file belong to franchised units here. Across 7(a), the busiest lenders by approvals rank as Zions Bancorporation, National Association at 205 loans for $45.5 million, America First Federal Credit Union booking 106 loans and $64.1 million; and Mountain America FCU with 105 loans totalling $36.0 million. Then, under 504 lending, the leading program intermediaries by count are Mountain West Small Business Finance at 229 loans worth $224.9 million followed by Intermountain Business Lending, Inc. at 165 loans for $137.3 million. The names here follow SBA's own records for 1,796 approvals; they record past loans and nothing further, not the standards that lenders require near Ogden.
46 in limited-service restaurant, 41 for fitness center, 39 for full-service restaurant; and 38 in dental office head the class list by approvals. In addition, 1,343 approvals lie beyond all named classes, so the 1,796-loan file reaches beyond the class list. Separately, 5 loans in grocery store within Ogden form too thin a base to read as a pattern. Separately, among the counties, Davis County (1,070), Weber County (700), plus Morgan County (26) take the largest shares. Also, across the years, FY2017 leads off at 195 loans and $91.2 million; FY2025 is the peak at 255 loans and $136.6 million, and FY2026, a year yet to finish, closes the record at 177 loans and $120.2 million.
9.4% among FY2017 to FY2024 loans in Ogden were cancelled before they funded, which is a floor; 10.1% is the ceiling counting undisbursed loans. Next, 3.2% among FY2017 to FY2021 loans disbursed in Ogden were charged off, a floor; 1.4% were charged off by the fifth year from approval, out of 761 disbursed loans. In addition, read each percentage on this page like a lower bound, since loans approved in the latest years received scant time to be cancelled or charged off, across 1,796 loans. Each area in the file is the core-based area of any loan's county of the project, from the July 2023 boundaries as issued; project counties are tied on name, but a loan with a county cannot be placed is absent from all areas, with no exception. In addition, class or no class, any approval in either program in Ogden is tallied toward its $1.04 billion total.
For Ogden, any serious study of a building should open with the actual proposal, not the average of the 1,796-loan file. In addition, demand in Ogden is the opening test: can Ogden's local customer base carry the revenue assumed, set against rivals in areas such as Davis County? In turn, the local median runs 1.35x compared with the country's median, so costs here may be elevated for some trades; the cost work prices the scope against bids from nearby trades. Separately, the coverage test binds demand to cost for Ogden: projected operating income tested against the payments due, with a stress case. Next, the valuation caps the work in Ogden: market value on completion must support the sum asked for. Beyond that, a sponsor who brings an arm's-length written study for Ogden, prior to approaching a bank, has met those floors in advance; approval stays with SBA and the lender for Ogden, and a study only informs it.
| Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026 | 1,796 |
|---|---|
| Gross dollars approved | $1.04 billion |
| Median loan | $280,850 |
| Middle half of loans, from | $100,000 |
| Middle half of loans, to | $667,000 |
| SBA 7(a) loans | 1,388 |
| SBA 504 loans | 408 |
| Franchise share of loans | 12.9% |
| Rank among metro and micro areas by loans | 60 of 928 |
| Median loan against the national median | 1.35x |
| Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor) | 9.4% |
|---|---|
| The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling) | 10.1% |
| Charged off to date, FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed loans (a floor) | 3.2% |
| Charged off within five years of approval | 1.4% |
| Loans in that cohort | 761 |
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 Ogden, UT Metro Area, by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| FY2017 | 195 | $91.2 million |
| FY2018 | 170 | $92.4 million |
| FY2019 | 147 | $61.7 million |
| FY2020 | 148 | $89.1 million |
| FY2021 | 192 | $137.8 million |
| FY2022 | 150 | $124.3 million |
| FY2023 | 164 | $91.1 million |
| FY2024 | 198 | $97.2 million |
| FY2025 | 255 | $136.6 million |
| FY2026 | 177 | $120.2 million |
| Asset class | Loans |
|---|---|
| Not in any of the 39 asset classes | 1,343 |
| Limited-service restaurant | 46 |
| Fitness center | 41 |
| Full-service restaurant | 39 |
| Dental office | 38 |
| Automotive mechanical repair (car and truck) | 35 |
| Coffee shop and snack bar | 34 |
| Beauty salon | 27 |
| Car wash | 25 |
| Gas station and truck stop | 24 |
| Child care center | 23 |
| Assisted living (without nursing care) | 19 |
| Hotel and motel | 16 |
| Self storage | 15 |
| Medical office (physicians) | 15 |
| Rehabilitation and therapy clinic | 10 |
| Nonresidential lessor (flex, office and retail investor buildings) | 5 |
| Behavioral health and addiction treatment | 5 |
| Grocery store | 5 |
Classes with 5 or more loans; smaller ones are withheld, and more where a small one could be derived.
| Lender | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| Mountain West Small Business Finance | 229 | $224.9 million |
| Intermountain Business Lending, Inc. | 165 | $137.3 million |
| Capital Matrix, Inc. | 7 | $8.0 million |
| Lender | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| Zions Bancorporation, National Association | 205 | $45.5 million |
| America First Federal Credit Union | 106 | $64.1 million |
| Mountain America FCU | 105 | $36.0 million |
| U.S. Bank, National Association | 84 | $20.6 million |
| Wells Fargo Bank National Association | 58 | $19.0 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.
| County | Loans |
|---|---|
| Davis County, UT | 1,070 |
| Weber County, UT | 700 |
| Morgan County, UT | 26 |
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-36260.
A worked example of the feasibility study a lender would read for an assisted living project in Utah, financed with an SBA 7(a) loan.
Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a commercial project in the Ogden, UT 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.
Start with the data.
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