SBA 7(a) Auto Repair Shop Feasibility Study in New Hampshire

Small loans, concentrated in one bank

New Hampshire auto repair under SBA 7(a) is a small-loan business. The median loan is only $50,000, 0.28x the national level, with the middle half of loans between $25,000 and $199,025. Our tests separate that median from both the all-class New Hampshire record and the national repair record. SBA approved 132 loans worth $20.6 million over the decade to FY2026. The state is 24 in the ranking of states, but the class holds 3 of 39 places at home, so repair shops are one of the state's main small-business uses of the program. Franchising appears in 8.3% of loans.

One dominant holder

SBA's current-holder data credits TD Bank, National Association with 47 of these loans, worth $3.2 million. Camden National Bank holds 12 worth $354,000, Merrimack County Savings Bank 9 worth $921,500, Eastern Bank 8 worth $520,500, and Rockland Trust Company 7 worth $2.0 million. Hillsborough County has 46 loans, Rockingham 28, Merrimack 14, Belknap 11 and Carroll 10. Annual approvals jumped to 20 loans and $5.3 million in FY2024 and stood at 19 loans in FY2025, but fell to 7 loans and $630,000 in FY2026. The year-to-year pattern is uneven, so a single year says little.

Outcomes and what the class contains

Cancellations took at least 11.3% of the approvals dated through FY2024, with the same 11.3% as the upper reading. Among 61 early funded shops, 3.3% are charged off so far, against 1.6% in the first five years; open loans make both minimums.

Truck repair is folded into this class because the code does not distinguish it from car repair. Collision, paint, upholstery, glass and quick-lube businesses fall outside it and appear under other pages.

For a New Hampshire repair shop the study should test local vehicle counts, how old the cars on the road are, rival shops and dealers along the corridor, and whether the owner or a hired technician does the work. Most loans are small, so the cost of lifts, diagnostic equipment and the lease should be shown against realistic repair orders. Weather, winter inspections and the seasonality of tire and brake work belong in monthly cash flow, and coverage should be tested with fewer billable hours than planned. If the building is bought, the appraisal needs market rent and a clean environmental review.