SBA 7(a) Gas Station Feasibility Study in Virginia

Virginia fuel stops with the largest cancellation floor

Gas stations and truck stops in Virginia show one number that stands out: a cancellation floor of 25.6% on approvals made up to FY2024, and the ceiling is identical. The median loan is the other distinctive metric, and our test flags it. At $658,300 it stands at 0.60x the nationwide 7(a) level for the class, so a Virginia station typically borrows well under its national peer. The record runs to 55 approvals and $46.5 million, with a middle half from $260,000 to $1.1 million. Franchise share is 32.7%, which reflects the weight of fuel brands and their supply terms in this trade. Virginia ranks 26 among states by count, and the class sits at 13 of 39 within the state.

Lender and county detail

Celtic Bank Corporation is the one lender the table names, with 6 loans and $6.9 million. Spread across the map, Chesterfield has 4 loans, and Caroline, Danville City, Henrico and Rockingham 3 each. Approvals peaked at 9 loans and $11.5 million in FY2021 and again at 9 loans and $4.5 million in FY2025, and fell to 2 loans and $1.7 million in FY2023. The picture is geographically thin: no county dominates, so a local study has less nearby comparison evidence than in a metropolitan class, and the analyst must build the competitive set from the site outward, listing every station on the same corridor and the traffic each draws. Loan sizes vary widely, and a station with a large store behaves differently from a bare pump island.

Virginia's charge-off figure is not printed, since the early funded loans are too few to support one. We do not describe it as zero.

What the coding hides and what a study must test

Coding follows what the borrower says its industry is. Travel centers and truck stops are not separable, since they share a code with fuel stations that sell no groceries, while the 2022 index has no entry for EV charging, so any charging component goes unseen in these totals. A study for a Virginia fuel stop must test gallons and in-store sales from traffic counts at the actual site, fuel margin against price volatility, the supply contract and brand terms, and environmental risk tied to tanks, which can dominate the budget and the appraisal. A convenience store component should be shown separately from fuel. Coverage must hold when fuel margins compress. Because a quarter of approvals in the record did not go forward, a lender will want evidence that permits, tank closure or remediation costs, and the site are settled before the loan is sized.