SBA 7(a) Gas Station Feasibility Study in Indiana

Indiana fuel stations: franchised, and with a median below the national one

Indiana's gas station and truck stop cell collects 112 loans, each approved under that program within FY2017 to FY2026, with gross dollars of $107.0 million. The median loan, $837,500, is the distinctive measure: against the nationwide ratio for this pairing it reads 0.76x, which sets the cell apart from both Indiana lending overall and the class nationally. The interquartile span runs from $513,900 to $1.2 million, and 59.8% of loans carry a franchise, so most Indiana borrowers are branded operators, not independents. By loan count Indiana is 14 for the pairing, while the class holds 8 of 39 within the state.

Who holds the loans, and where

Merchants Bank of Indiana is the clear leader among the holders SBA reports, with 26 loans and $28.1 million. Byline Bank holds 8 loans and $8.8 million, The Huntington National Bank 6 and $6.3 million, First Merchants Bank 6 and $3.1 million, and First Bank Richmond 6 and $2.2 million. Marion County accounts for 21 loans, Howard for 7, and Lake and Putnam for 5 each, with Delaware, Elkhart, Jasper, La Porte and Porter at 4. Yearly volume peaked at 20 loans and $17.0 million in FY2021 and has run between 8 and 14 loans since then, with FY2023 raising $17.0 million on 14.

The cancellation figure is the one to notice first. Indiana's fuel approvals for FY2017 to FY2024 show at least 17.0% that never reached funding, and the ceiling is the same 17.0%, so no undisbursed backlog is hiding in the numbers. By contrast, not one of the 50 funded loans approved from FY2017 to FY2021 shows a write-off: 0.00% so far and 0.00% in the first five years. These are floors, and later approvals are still seasoning.

Testing an Indiana station request

The class includes truck stops and travel centers, because the industry code does not split them from stations without a convenience store, while chargers for electric cars have no line in the 2022 industry index, so neither segment can be isolated. A study for an Indiana site should therefore model the actual format: fuel volume and margin, inshop sales, and whether a brand's supply contract fixes pricing. It has to price tank compliance and environmental history, show traffic counts on the road in question, and test coverage in a year when fuel margins compress. Since the typical request is large, the appraisal should split value between real estate, pumps and tanks, and the going business.