SBA 7(a) Data Center Feasibility Study in Michigan

Michigan's 7(a) data center cell shows a wide band: half of the 26 loans lie between $85,500 and $875,000, and the median is $192,500, 0.96x the national 7(a) figure for data centers. The total is $21.7 million. The width, more than the median, is what the cell adds, because it blends very small IT firms with larger hosting projects. On loans counted Michigan sits 13th, with data centers 25th among its 39 classes. No loan was franchised.

One bank

Only one lender is listed: The Huntington National Bank, 11 loans and $3.9 million, an average below the cell median, so the larger loans must sit with institutions outside the table. It is SBA's register of holders, silent on method. Macomb County has 7 loans, Wayne 5, Oakland 4, Kent and Washtenaw 2, and Antrim, Grand Traverse, Houghton, Livingston and Otsego 1 each.

Years

FY2017 had 4 loans and $3.1 million, FY2018 one loan of $84,000, and FY2019 2. FY2020 had none. FY2021 had 5 loans and $4.0 million, FY2022 4 loans and $5.7 million, FY2023 4 and $2.7 million, and FY2024 4 loans but only $669,000. FY2025 had a single loan of $50,000, and FY2026 a single loan of $5.0 million. The two single-loan years differ by a factor of one hundred, which shows the range inside the class.

What the code covers

Colocation buildings, hosting services and data processors all share one code. Michigan's cohorts are too small for cancellation or charge-off percentages; do not read the gaps as zeros.

A Michigan data study

The study should first say what is financed: a hosting business, colocation space, or equipment for an operating firm. It should test customer contracts, churn and the largest customer's share of revenue, power and cooling cost, redundancy, connectivity and the lease of the building. Equipment ages quickly, so a refresh budget is required. Model coverage after a major customer departs, and ask the appraiser to separate the building from specialised systems and to price the space for a user with no data business. Because Michigan lenders see many small IT firms in this class, the report should also document whose servers sit in the building, the length of customer contracts, and what the business owns outright.