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

A larger loan than the national norm

Oregon child care centers hold 64 SBA 7(a) loans and $45.1 million in gross dollars; Oregon is 29th among states for the pairing, but child care is the 10 of 39 class within its borders. A median of $496,400 is 1.28x the national one, and loans in the center run $145,250 to $914,000. Franchised centers reach only 7.8% of loans. Oregon operators borrow more per center than the national norm, which suggests building ownership or substantial renovation is part of many deals.

Nine loans each sit with KeyBank and with U.S. Bank, National Association. Wells Fargo has 6, and Celtic Bank Corporation and Columbia Bank have 5 apiece. The ledger is SBA's current-holder field and describes no lender's approach. Multnomah County has 20 loans, Washington 18 and Clackamas 10, and so the three metro counties dominate, while Marion has 4 and every other county two or fewer. Volume peaked at 11 loans in FY2023 and $11.4 million in FY2026.

Cancellation and a withheld rate

Cancelled approvals have a 12.5% floor and an identical ceiling. A charged-off rate is held back because the funded cohort is too thin to publish one; the empty cell is not a zero. With no loss rate, cancellation is the lone outcome figure the cell can give, and it did not clear our distinctness margin against Oregon or child care nationally.

Coding limits and what an Oregon study must prove

The code does not distinguish centers from family child care homes, which it also covers. An Oregon study should state licensed capacity and the ages served, then test enrolment demand around the site, rival centers, tuition against local household income, and the teacher labor market, because staffing ratios drive payroll. It should show licensing and permit timing and the cost of build-out or purchase against a ticket above the national median. Run debt service coverage on a slow enrolment build and a month of unexpected closure. The appraiser will value business and building together, so the study should keep them apart. A lender will also want a dated plan for hiring the lead teacher and director before opening, because a center cannot enrol children without them.