SBA 7(a) Child Care Center Feasibility Study in Georgia

Big loans with no charge-offs so far

Georgia child care centers stand out on two measures under SBA 7(a). The first is size: a median loan of $770,000, which is 1.99x the nationwide child care benchmark; the heart of the range is $350,000 to $1.9 million. The second is outcome: of 161 loans funded in FY2017 to FY2021, the charge-off figure so far is 0.00%, and the measure at five years reads 0.00% too. Both measures mark the cell out from Georgia's other classes and from child care in other states. The files for FY2017 to FY2026 hold 394 loans, $483.2 million gross. Georgia ranks 6 across states for this pairing, and child care is 6 of 39 within Georgia. Franchise brands hold 22.6% of loans.

Who holds the loans, and where

Harvest Small Business Finance, LLC leads with 45 loans and $38.1 million. Readycap Lending, LLC has 21 and $19.1 million, The Huntington National Bank 20 and $26.7 million, Live Oak Banking Company 18 and $47.9 million, and Bank of America, National Association 15 and $14.9 million. The holder field is SBA's, and it is not a description of how any institution decides. Fulton County has 62 loans and Cobb 61, with Gwinnett at 53 and DeKalb at 45, Clayton at 23, Cherokee and Hall at 11 each, Fayette and Forsyth at 10 each, and Henry at 9. Metro Atlanta supplies nearly all of the activity. Annual approvals ran from 25 in FY2020 to 55 in FY2025.

Cancellations, and a coding limit

The cancellation floor is 8.9%, and the ceiling is also 8.9%, so the portion still awaiting disbursement is negligible. The 0.00% charge-off figure is a minimum, because open loans can yet fail, and a cohort of 161 cannot promise the pattern lasts. A coding note: one industry code spans child care centers and in-home care alike, so family homes are mixed into the counts.

What a Georgia child care study has to test

A Georgia center needs a state license, and capacity under that license, set by space and staffing ratios, drives revenue. Show how many children each age group's rooms can legally hold, then test whether the trade area can fill those seats: working-parent households, the ages of children nearby, other licensed centers and any subsidy or pre-kindergarten programs that compete. Loans of this size often include real estate, so cost lines should separate land, construction or conversion, playground and safety features, and furnishings, with the total set beside the $770,000 median. Payroll is the largest operating cost and enrollment ramps slowly, so show coverage on a slow ramp. Clean past results are encouraging, but a new borrower has to prove coverage for itself, and the appraiser will want the income case.