SBA 7(a) Car Wash Feasibility Study in Ohio

A cell where the typical loan is a fraction of the national one

Ohio's 7(a) car wash lending stands out for how small the typical loan is. From FY2017 into FY2026, SBA approved 135 Ohio car wash loans under 7(a) for $104.3 million in gross dollars; by loan count Ohio ranks 5 among states, even though car wash is only 14 of 39 among Ohio's asset classes. The median loan is $216,000, a mere 0.27x of the nationwide 7(a) midpoint for washes, which is the figure that separates this cell from the national picture. Yet the central half of the pool starts at $40,000 and ends at $1.1 million, a very wide spread: small equipment-and-working-capital loans sit in the same pool as full tunnel constructions. Only 3.7% of loans are franchised.

The pool is not one kind of loan

That width reappears among holders: The Huntington National Bank has 52 loans, but they total just $14.1 million, a profile of many modest notes. Celtic Bank Corporation holds 18 loans for $36.5 million, an average several times larger. KeyBank National Association holds 9 for $5.8 million and First Commonwealth Bank 7 for $5.0 million. SBA lists current holders, so the table reflects where notes sit now. Franklin County has 22 loans, Cuyahoga 17, Summit 12 and Lucas 9. The one code covers stationary, truck and mobile washes alike, so the pool mixes formats and the figures cannot be read as tunnel washes alone. Dollar volume peaked at $22.4 million in FY2022 and fell to $2.9 million in FY2026.

Cancellations and the clean charge-off record

The cancellation rate has a floor of 12.3% and a ceiling of 14.9% when undisbursed loans are counted. Losses are absent so far. Across the 53 washes that disbursed in the FY2017 cohort through FY2021, the charge-off rate to date is 0.00% and the five-year rate likewise 0.00%. Those zeros are measured results, not blanks, but open loans still have time to fail, so they are floors and no guarantee of future performance.

Questions for an Ohio car wash study

Because the size of loans varies so much, a study begins by classifying its own project: equipment replacement, an acquisition of a running wash, or a new tunnel on raw land. Each has different demand evidence. A new tunnel needs traffic counts on the frontage, a count of existing automatic washes within a short drive, and a view on membership pricing against the sponsor's volume assumptions. Cold-weather months are an Ohio-specific test, since throughput drops when roads are salted but also when freezing temperatures close wash bays, and the forecast should show both. Costs need separate lines for building, site work and equipment because the appraisal will value real estate and equipment differently. The payment should be covered by a downside case in which winter volume stays well below the summer peak. Given the national gap in median size, a request far above the Ohio typical should be defended with comparable sales and a clear scope of work.