Restaurants head Flint's own class ladder, and a 1.26x location quotient says the area leans toward them more than the nation does. Yet the loans are very small: the $98,500 median is only 0.36x the national class figure, and the central loans run from $50,000 to $343,000. The file lists 57 approvals from FY2017 to FY2026 for $16.1 million, placing the area 90th in a field of 821 for the class.

One county, one lender

Genesee County, MI is the project county for all 57 loans. The Huntington National Bank is listed with 36 loans and $6.1 million, which is most of the area's record by count. The 7(a) and 504 counts and the franchise share are not published for this cell, which means a reader cannot tell how much of the book is franchised. Because a single county and a single bank make up almost the whole record, the figures describe one local lending relationship as much as a market.

Years and masked values

FY2018 gave 6 loans and $926,200, FY2020 5 loans and $905,000, FY2021 7 loans and $1.2 million, FY2022 6 loans and $1.8 million and FY2023 10 loans and $1.2 million. FY2025 showed 5 loans and $975,000, and FY2026 7 loans and a much larger $5.9 million. FY2017, FY2019 and FY2024 are masked. Of FY2017 to FY2024 approvals, 13.3% at minimum were cancelled, and the floor is no different once undisbursed loans are added. The loss rate on charge-offs is hidden, and hidden is not zero.

What a Flint restaurant study has to test

Demand comes first in a market with a long period of population loss; the study should count households and daytime workers within the trade area instead of leaning on regional averages. Competing concepts and seat counts along the corridor come next. Cost should be tested against the small $98,500 median, because a concept that needs far more is unusual here and will draw questions. Model the loan payment on a modest opening ramp and a weaker-sales case. With one lender so prominent, a borrower should also test alternatives. A separate appraisal should split business value from property value, and the single-county placement rests on the July 2023 definitions. Keep in mind that the source is SBA's own roll of what each bank carries or carried; it is not a window into any bank's credit decisions.

SBA full-service restaurant loans in the Flint, MI Metro Area

Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026	57
Gross dollars approved	$16.1 million
Median loan	$98,500
Middle half of loans, from	$50,000
Middle half of loans, to	$343,000
SBA 7(a) loans	withheld
SBA 504 loans	withheld
Franchise share of loans	withheld
Rank among metro and micro areas for full-service restaurant loans	90 of 821
Rank of full-service restaurant among the classes in this area	1 of 39
Location quotient (share of loans against the national share)	1.26x
Median loan against the national median for the class	0.36x

Cancellation and charge-off

Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor)	13.3%
The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling)	13.3%
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 full-service restaurant loans approved in the Flint, MI Metro Area, by fiscal year

Fiscal year	Loans	Dollars
FY2017	withheld	withheld
FY2018	6	$926,200
FY2019	withheld	withheld
FY2020	5	$905,000
FY2021	7	$1.2 million
FY2022	6	$1.8 million
FY2023	10	$1.2 million
FY2024	withheld	withheld
FY2025	5	$975,000
FY2026	7	$5.9 million

Most active SBA lenders

SBA 7(a): lenders by loans approved (the current holder of each loan, as SBA reports it)
Lender	Loans	Dollars
The Huntington National Bank	36	$6.1 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.

Where the loans are, by county

County	Loans
Genesee County, MI	57

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.

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 MA-22420-C34.

Related feasibility study pages

Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a full-service restaurant project in the Flint, MI 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.

Daniel Smith, MAI

Restaurant Feasibility Study in the Flint, MI Metro Area