Worked Example: USDA B&I Gas Station Feasibility Study in Oregon
A worked example of the feasibility study a lender would read for a gas station project in Oregon, financed with a USDA Business and Industry guaranteed loan.
What SBA's own loan files show about lending in the Ontario, OR-ID Micro Area, every asset class together, and what a feasibility study for a project there has to test.
149 loans inside Ontario, OR-ID over FY2017 through FY2026 come to $65.9 million gross. Ontario stands at 372 of 928 against all CBSAs on approvals. $100,000 marks the midpoint; the middle half runs from $28,000 to $385,000. Worth noting: the median in Ontario stands at 0.48x measured against the national median, so tickets run less than what the country sees. Here, Ontario looks only at its home counties, not a state's blend: 149 loans altogether.
130 loans under 7(a) compare with 19 loans under 504. Separately, 7.4% of the loans go to franchisees in Ontario. Next, in 7(a) cases, the leading lenders by number stand as Zions Bancorporation, National Association at 35 loans totalling $4.2 million, Columbia Bank (OR) at 25 loans worth $1.0 million, then U.S. Bank, National Association at 12 loans totalling $1.0 million. Within 504 cases, the top development companies by approvals rank as Capital Matrix, Inc. booking 11 loans totalling $5.0 million. The names here come from SBA records covering 149 loans; they show holdings only, and not what lenders ask for near Ontario.
Hotel and motel with 8 comes first among the classes by approvals. 116 loans fall outside every named class, so its $65.9 million total reaches beyond the class list. Worth noting: County by county, Payette County (84) plus Malheur County (65) lead the loan count. For context, ID and OR are both in Ontario, OR-ID, so rules and lenders can differ between states. In practice, taking each approval year, FY2017 kicks off at 18 loans and $8.0 million; FY2025 is the busiest year at 24 loans and $9.6 million, while FY2026 caps the count at 18 loans and $3.7 million.
5.6% among FY2017 through FY2024 loans in Ontario have been cancelled before they funded, which is a floor. The ceiling count for Ontario is not printed, leaving the floor alone. Separately, no charge-off floor is posted for Ontario, OR-ID; the cohort has too few loans, and withheld is never zero. In practice, treat every rate in this section as a minimum, because approvals made recently got limited opportunity to cancel or default, across 149 loans. Next, an Ontario entry on this page rests on the CBSA containing the loan's home county, per July 2023 boundaries; project counties are paired using the name, and so an approval whose site county cannot be assigned is absent from any area. In practice, classed or unclassed, each 7(a) or 504 loan across Ontario is counted toward its $65.9 million total.
Within Ontario, a full study covering a property opens with the subject property, and not the 149-loan file. Also, local demand in Ontario is tested first: can Ontario's household base support the turnover planned, against competitors in places such as Payette County? The median here stands at 0.48x against the country's median, so ordinary loans come in light; an outsized request must show why its size is sound. For context, the coverage test joins income to payments in Ontario: projected net operating income measured on loan payments, and a stress case. Here, the valuation finishes the job in Ontario: the as-built value must cover the amount sought. Beyond that, a sponsor armed with an arm's-length written study of Ontario, ahead of speaking with the lenders above, has met the outcome floors first; the call is made by the lender and the agency in Ontario, and a study cannot change that.
| Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026 | 149 |
|---|---|
| Gross dollars approved | $65.9 million |
| Median loan | $100,000 |
| Middle half of loans, from | $28,000 |
| Middle half of loans, to | $385,000 |
| SBA 7(a) loans | 130 |
| SBA 504 loans | 19 |
| Franchise share of loans | 7.4% |
| Rank among metro and micro areas by loans | 372 of 928 |
| Median loan against the national median | 0.48x |
| Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor) | 5.6% |
|---|---|
| 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 Ontario, OR-ID Micro Area, by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| FY2017 | 18 | $8.0 million |
| FY2018 | 7 | $5.0 million |
| FY2019 | 18 | $3.2 million |
| FY2020 | 5 | $6.7 million |
| FY2021 | 18 | $11.4 million |
| FY2022 | 11 | $10.3 million |
| FY2023 | 11 | $5.6 million |
| FY2024 | 19 | $2.5 million |
| FY2025 | 24 | $9.6 million |
| FY2026 | 18 | $3.7 million |
| Asset class | Loans |
|---|---|
| Not in any of the 39 asset classes | 116 |
| Hotel and motel | 8 |
Classes with 5 or more loans; smaller ones are withheld, and more where a small one could be derived.
| Lender | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| Capital Matrix, Inc. | 11 | $5.0 million |
| Lender | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| Zions Bancorporation, National Association | 35 | $4.2 million |
| Columbia Bank (OR) | 25 | $1.0 million |
| U.S. Bank, National Association | 12 | $1.0 million |
| Wells Fargo Bank National Association | 6 | $1.4 million |
| D. L. Evans Bank | 6 | $762,100 |
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 |
|---|---|
| Payette County, ID | 84 |
| Malheur County, OR | 65 |
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-36620.
A worked example of the feasibility study a lender would read for a gas station project in Oregon, financed with a USDA Business and Industry guaranteed loan.
Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a commercial project in the Ontario, OR-ID 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.
Start with the data.
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