SBA 7(a) Brewery, Winery and Distillery Feasibility Study in Pennsylvania

Breweries, wineries and distilleries hold the tenth place of 39 in Pennsylvania's classes, and on 7(a) volume the state is fifth, ranked 5. The program approved 172 loans worth $84.8 million in FY2017 to FY2026. A median of $200,000 comes to 0.80x what the program gives these producers nationwide, and the central half runs $50,000 to $435,150. Franchising registers 0.00%. On performance, charge-offs reach 1.0% at the least across 98 funded Pennsylvania loans approved in the early years, and 0.00% within five years of approval. Both figures are floors.

Lenders and places

Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company holds 34 loans worth $4.3 million, First Commonwealth Bank 22 worth $18.0 million, The Huntington National Bank 19 worth $2.7 million, Northwest Bank 8 with $1.3 million, and, with 10 loans and $6.3 million, Univest Bank and Trust Co. First Commonwealth's dollars are the largest of the five lenders. Those are SBA's holder-of-record counts. Allegheny County has 26 loans, Philadelphia County 22, Montgomery County 17, Chester County 12, York County 11, and Erie and Lancaster counties 10 each.

The year-by-year pattern

Counts peaked at 29 loans in FY2019, and FY2021 had 26 loans carrying $21.3 million, the largest dollar total of any year. Later years ran lower: 12 in FY2023, 18 in FY2024, 10 in FY2025 and 9 in the full year FY2026. Of the producer loans approved before FY2025, cancellation after approval stands at 9.8% as a minimum, and the figure stays 9.8% even if undisbursed loans are counted as cancelled. Both loss measures are floors, and a handful of later failures in so small a cohort would raise them noticeably.

Scope and the study a producer needs

What Pennsylvania's file records is production of beer, wine or spirits; any tastings or events at the site are invisible, and the class was drawn to take in wineries while excluding other manufacturing. A Pennsylvania study should separate production from visitor revenue. It should test equipment, capacity and distribution, and it should also test how the producer will reach customers, and it should estimate visitor volume and seasonality for any taproom. Capital cost should be compared with a $200,000 median. Debt service coverage ought to hold on a slow ramp, and an appraiser will need a view of the building for another user. Program terms are published by SBA.