Feasibility Study Data for the Reading, PA Metro Area

The scale of lending near Reading

Across Reading, the agency's approval files record 666 approvals over FY2017 to FY2026, totalling $369.9 million in gross approvals. Reading stands against all metro and micro areas, measured by loan count, as 141 of 928. The core of Reading lending spans $50,000 to $508,750, about a typical loan of $200,000; and the median sits at 0.96x the national median. In Reading the program mix is 601 loans in 7(a) and 65 under 504. Franchised units took 9.3% of the loans.

Reading: who and where

Besides, among the asset classes we break out for Reading, full-service restaurant leads with 35 loans, trailed by automotive mechanical repair (24) and beauty salon (19). A further 466 loans in Reading fall outside the classes. Every loan in Reading sits in Berks County, PA, at 666 loans, so our work around Reading a one-county exercise.

Reading: holders of record

Holders named for Reading come from SBA's archived Reading records of the 666 approved loans in Reading, under their current or past holder; those records assign every entry but pass no judgment on what lenders require. Besides, under 7(a) in Reading, the biggest holders are Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company at 126 loans and $14.6 million; next, Customers Bank (36 loans, $36.2 million). Notably, on 504 in Reading, the holders include South Eastern Economic Development Company of Pennsylvania (53 loans, $51.0 million), followed by The Pennsylvania Community Development and Finance Corporation at 6 loans and $2.9 million. An applicant in Reading can ask the Reading holder Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company and the other Reading holders near Berks County, PA which documents it wants, then fit the Reading study to meet it.

Reading: loss floors and years

Among Reading approvals from FY2017 to FY2024, not below 9.5% were cancelled after approval in Reading, a floor; the real Reading figure is no lower. Further, among disbursed Reading loans approved from FY2017 through FY2021, 5.2% have been charged off to date, again only a floor; 2.7% ended in charge-off before the fifth year ended, out of a base of 291 loans. In the yearly line, Reading topped out in FY2025 at 94 loans and $52.1 million, and bottomed out in FY2021 at 48 loans and $42.1 million.

Reading: what a borrower checks

The Reading study starts with customers: who works in Berks County, PA, who travels in, how that compares with Reading overall, and whether the 35 full-service restaurant loans leave room. Cost: $200,000 is the Reading median and $50,000 to $508,750 the central range, so a Berks County, PA site must justify its budget against that $200,000 midpoint. Debt service: Reading repayment survives a soft year against the 9.5% floor for cancellation plus the 5.2% rate of charge-off. The Berks County, PA appraisal must support the worth financed. Reading adopts the 2023 July definition; a loan whose listed county is unmapped drops out of every area, as in Reading, but the totals keep loans without a place in the classes named.