SBA 7(a) Hotel Feasibility Study in Wyoming

A hotel class that leads Wyoming

Hotels and motels rank first among Wyoming asset types in SBA 7(a), a position of 1 of 39, even though Wyoming ranks only 37 among states by loan count. The file holds 51 approvals from FY2017 to FY2026 totaling $67.6 million. Loans are large for a small state: the median is $1.0 million, half run from $448,700 to $1.8 million, and franchise brands are 41.2% of the loans. Against hotel loans nationally the Wyoming median is 0.47x, which is the sharpest contrast in the cell, because Wyoming's typical hotel ticket is well under half the national one.

Years and counties

Wyoming hotel lending peaked in FY2020 and FY2021, at 10 and 11 loans with $16.2 million and $18.5 million, and has been thinner since: 1 loan in FY2023, then 4 and 3. Laramie County leads with 17 loans, then Natrona with 6, Albany and Big Horn with 4 each, and Fremont and Sublette with 3. Two lenders reach the table: a Wyoming bank, Bank of Bridger National Association, at 5 loans and $1.9 million, and the larger Open Bank, at 10 loans and $9.1 million.

Outcomes

Wyoming hotel approvals from FY2017 to FY2024 show 19.6% cancelled, and the ceiling is identical. The funded early group numbers 30 loans, and in it the charge-off floor reads 0.00%, with 0.00% on the five-year measure. These are floors, since the loans have not all run their course, and with a cohort exactly at the minimum size a single loss would change the picture entirely.

Limits of the hotel code

The code lumps every lodging type, giving no line between select-service and full-service stays; a Wyoming roadside motel and a branded lodge appear together.

What a Wyoming hotel study has to test

Hotel demand in Wyoming is seasonal and tied to parks, energy, travel corridors and events, so the study should rest on room nights by month rather than an annual average. It should compare competing inventory, set the average daily rate against the cost of operating a property, and show occupancy needed for the debt to be paid. Franchise fees, the brand's property improvement plan and required reserves belong in the budget. Valuing a Wyoming hotel is an exercise in income, and a reader should be shown what would be left of the value if the brand flag were dropped.