SBA 7(a) Gas Station Feasibility Study in Ohio

The Ohio fuel station: lower loans, heavy cancellations

Ohio gas station and truck stop borrowers take smaller loans than the national norm, and a fair number never close. The 7(a) file lists 131 loans for FY2017 to FY2026 and $111.9 million in gross dollars, putting Ohio tenth when states are sorted by loans, though the class is only 15 of 39 inside the state. Ohio's median loan of $528,000 stands at 0.48x the nationwide figure for such sites, and that ratio is the distinctive measure on this page. Half of the loans lie between $51,250 and $1.2 million, so a wide range of deals is mixed together. Franchise brands account for 42.7% of loans.

One dominant holder

The Huntington National Bank holds 47 loans worth $18.3 million, by far the largest group. KeyBank National Association holds 10 but only $1.6 million. Celtic Bank Corporation has 9 loans worth $15.5 million, and Readycap Lending, LLC has 8 worth $21.5 million, which tops every other dollar total on a small count. RiverHills Bank holds 6 for $3.7 million. These are holders as SBA reports them now. Cuyahoga County has 21 loans and Franklin 15, then Montgomery 8, Clermont and Seneca 6 each. Annual counts ran from 4 loans in FY2017 to 19 in FY2019, and FY2026 shows 7 loans worth $11.8 million.

Cancellation is the larger story

Among Ohio fuel approvals from FY2017 to FY2024, cancellation ran to at least 21.5%, and to 23.4% once undisbursed loans are added. Ohio's cohort of 49 fuel loans funded from FY2017 to FY2021 has a charge-off floor is 2.0% to date and 0.00% within five years. A borrower or lender should read the cancellation rate as the key signal here: a large proportion of approved Ohio fuel projects do not reach funding, and the study should ask why before closing.

Testing an Ohio station

A feasibility study for an Ohio fuel site has to establish gallons from vehicle counts on the Ohio road that fronts it, the competing stations within reach, and the share of revenue that comes from the store, since fuel margins are thin. With a franchise share this high, a brand's image standards and fuel supply contract need modeling. Cost and land must reconcile with a typical loan near $528,000 and explain anything above $1.2 million. Environmental history is a gate for any station, so the study should say what site assessment is planned. The appraisal has to value real estate separately from the operating business. One caution on coding: each record reflects the borrower's industry as entered, travel plazas and truck stops share the class and cannot be isolated, and a charging-focused venture has no home in the 2022 NAICS index.