SBA 7(a) Auto Repair Shop Feasibility Study in Maine

Very small loans, many cancellations

Maine's repair shops borrow in small amounts and cancel often. The 52 loans carry only $6.8 million, and the midpoint of $40,000 is 0.22x the national 7(a) repair midpoint, one of the lowest ratios a reader will see for this class. The middle half spans $25,000 to $152,450. Cancellation reaches at least 25.7% of approvals dated through FY2024, with the ceiling at the same 25.7%, so roughly one in four approved loans never funded. Maine ranks 36 by count against other states, yet repair shops are 4 of 39 in Maine's own mix of classes. Franchised loans are 3.8%.

Lenders, counties and years

TD Bank, National Association holds 17 loans worth $746,700. Newtek Bank, National Association holds 6 loans and $883,000, and KeyBank National Association holds 6 with $763,500. The holder is as SBA reports it now. Cumberland County has 13 loans and York 12, followed by Androscoggin and Oxford with 7 each. Annual counts started at 6 in FY2017, fell to 1 in FY2019 and again in FY2020, and recovered to 8 in FY2023 and FY2024, 12 in FY2025 and 5 in FY2026.

A coding limit that matters

SBA files truck work under car repair for Maine too, so a diesel yard shares a count with a neighborhood garage; paint and body, glass and lube shops sit outside the class. No charge-off rate is shown for Maine because the funded cohort fell short of SBA's floor for publishing one, and a reader should not take the gap as a clean record.

What the Maine study should test

Shops this small live on a handful of loyal customers and on one or two technicians. The study should count registered vehicles and their age within the service radius, since an older fleet needs more repair, and should name the competing shops and dealers. Winter matters in Maine: seasonal tire and brake work, plus road-salt corrosion, shape the calendar, so show revenue by month. Price the equipment actually needed, and tie each piece to a service it enables. Show who the technicians are, what they are paid and how a departure is covered. With a midpoint near $40,000, many requests are for equipment or a buyout, and the study should state the seller's records that support the price. Coverage needs a case with a lost lead technician.