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

Far above the class median, led by Memphis and Knoxville

Tennessee beverage producers borrow at well above the usual rate: a $500,000 median is 2.00x the class's nationwide level, and loans in the middle fall between $145,500 and $1.3 million. The record for FY2017 through FY2026 is 25 loans and $23.2 million. Tennessee ranks 32 on loan count among states; the class takes 16 of 39 places at home. Franchise share is 0.00%. Shelby County has 6 loans and Knox 4, followed by Davidson, Hamilton, McMinn and Rutherford with 2 each, and single loans in Campbell, Henry, Jefferson and Montgomery.

Pinnacle Bank and the early surge

Only Pinnacle Bank is listed, at 5 loans and $5.1 million, as SBA records the present holder. That is a statement about holdings and says nothing of the bank's approach. FY2018 was the peak by count, with 8 loans and $8.9 million. FY2017 carried only 2 loans but $4.7 million, an average far above the median, and FY2019 had none. Recent years are modest: 3 loans in each of FY2023, FY2024 and FY2025, at $1.9 million, $233,100 and $1.0 million, then 1 loan of $145,500 in FY2026.

Reading the class

Coding follows the producer of beer, wine or spirits, and the taproom or tasting room cannot be seen in it. Wineries are part of the class by a classification decision. For Tennessee distilleries and breweries, which often trade on a visitor experience, that means the record covers the production side and not the hospitality side. Cancellation and loss percentages are not printed; the early cohort cannot carry a rate, and a gap there is never a zero.

What a Tennessee producer study has to show

A producer study should state what is being built or bought: tanks, stills, barrel storage, a canning or bottling line, and the building around them. It should explain how product reaches buyers, whether wholesale, retail, direct sale at the site or a combination, and what state law permits for each. Because many Tennessee operations draw visitors, the visitor side should be tested separately from the production side, with its own staffing and licences. Cash sits in barrels and tanks for months, so working capital needs its own line. The payment has to be covered under a slow sales ramp, and since loans here run well above the national median, the study should justify the scale. An appraiser should address who would buy a specialised production building.