What SBA's own loan files show about lending in the Sandusky, OH Metro Area, every asset class together, and what a feasibility study for a project there has to test.
Sandusky is unusual in listing marina among its top five classes, at 6 loans. Full-service restaurant leads with 29, limited-service restaurant has 14, hotel and motel 12 and coffee shop and snack bar 9, while 180 loans fall outside the classes. A marina study must be seasonal by construction: slip occupancy, winter storage, fuel and repair revenue, and a value opinion that separates the waterfront real estate from the operating business.
SBA approved 282 loans in Sandusky across FY2017 to FY2026, $107.2 million gross, rank 256 of 928; 258 are 7(a) and 24 are 504. Sandusky loans center on $100,100. Sandusky sits at 0.48x of the national figure. Sandusky: half of loans span $41,475 to $369,500. Brands hold 10.3% of the count. Erie County has 158 loans and Ottawa County 124. Count fell from 33 loans and $7.6 million in FY2017 to a low of 16 loans in FY2026, though FY2026 dollars reached $13.6 million; the peak was 38 loans and $14.2 million in FY2024.
The Huntington National Bank holds 144 loans and $19.7 million under 7(a), with The First National Bank Bellevue at 11 loans and $4.7 million and KeyBank National Association at 8 loans and $2.2 million. On 504, Growth Capital Corp. holds 11 loans and $14.4 million and Northwest Ohio Development Assistance Corporation 7 loans and $4.1 million. Sandusky lists come from SBA's holder records. Sandusky names hold or held the loans shown. Sandusky volume is no lender's verdict. Sandusky counts state no requirement.
Sandusky: cancelled after approval at least 10.7% of Sandusky's approvals. The Sandusky window is FY2017 to FY2024. Sandusky counts undisbursed loans for 15.7%. Sandusky reports no charge-off rate. Too few Sandusky loans back one; Sandusky is not a zero. Open Sandusky loans may raise every Sandusky floor. Sandusky is a county roll-up. Sandusky applies the July 2023 delineation. Sandusky matches each county by name. Sandusky omits loans whose counties fail to place. Sandusky still counts approvals outside named classes. For hotels and restaurants the usual checks apply: seasonal occupancy and rate, sales per seat and occupancy cost, with debt service run on an off-season year. Loan Analytics prepares Sandusky studies. Daniel Smith, MAI, signs each Sandusky study.
| Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026 | 282 |
|---|---|
| Gross dollars approved | $107.2 million |
| Median loan | $100,100 |
| Middle half of loans, from | $41,475 |
| Middle half of loans, to | $369,500 |
| SBA 7(a) loans | 258 |
| SBA 504 loans | 24 |
| Franchise share of loans | 10.3% |
| Rank among metro and micro areas by loans | 256 of 928 |
| Median loan against the national median | 0.48x |
| Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor) | 10.7% |
|---|---|
| The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling) | 15.7% |
| 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 Sandusky, OH Metro Area, by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| FY2017 | 33 | $7.6 million |
| FY2018 | 25 | $8.2 million |
| FY2019 | 25 | $12.4 million |
| FY2020 | 25 | $13.4 million |
| FY2021 | 27 | $13.0 million |
| FY2022 | 35 | $15.2 million |
| FY2023 | 34 | $6.0 million |
| FY2024 | 38 | $14.2 million |
| FY2025 | 24 | $3.6 million |
| FY2026 | 16 | $13.6 million |
| Asset class | Loans |
|---|---|
| Not in any of the 39 asset classes | 180 |
| Full-service restaurant | 29 |
| Limited-service restaurant | 14 |
| Hotel and motel | 12 |
| Coffee shop and snack bar | 9 |
| Marina | 6 |
| Automotive mechanical repair (car and truck) | 5 |
Classes with 5 or more loans; smaller ones are withheld, and more where a small one could be derived.
| Lender | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| Growth Capital Corp. | 11 | $14.4 million |
| Northwest Ohio Development Assistance Corporation | 7 | $4.1 million |
| Lender | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| The Huntington National Bank | 144 | $19.7 million |
| The First National Bank Bellevue | 11 | $4.7 million |
| KeyBank National Association | 8 | $2.2 million |
| Growth Capital Corp. | 7 | $816,800 |
| The Croghan Colonial Bank | 6 | $2.1 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.
| County | Loans |
|---|---|
| Erie County, OH | 158 |
| Ottawa County, OH | 124 |
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-41780.
A worked example of the feasibility study a lender would read for a glamping resort project in Ohio, 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 Sandusky, OH 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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