SBA 7(a) Physical Therapy Clinic Feasibility Study in Colorado

Small clinics, modest loans

Colorado's physical therapy clinics borrow lightly under SBA 7(a). The file counts 56 approvals from FY2017 to FY2026 with $15.8 million in gross dollars, a median of $150,000 and a middle half running from $88,125 to $416,050. The median is 1.07x of the national 7(a) figure for therapy practices, so Colorado does not set itself apart by size; it sets itself apart by breadth. Colorado ranks 18 among states by count and the class holds 17 of 39 in the Colorado asset list. Franchises are 10.7% of the loans.

Spread across the Front Range and beyond

Boulder County has 8 loans, Arapahoe and Jefferson have 7 each, then Denver and El Paso with 5 each, with Weld at 4. That is an even spread for a class this size. In the lender table, Wells Fargo Bank National Association leads with 6 loans, while the next two each show 5; the dollar totals read $1.7 million, $1.8 million and $660,500. SBA reports these as present holders. Annual approvals ran at 8 and 8 in the last two years, up from the single loan of $17,500 in FY2021.

Outcomes the file supports

About 10.0% of the Colorado clinic approvals in the earlier vintages never funded, and the count climbs to 12.5% once loans not yet disbursed are included. The charge-off rate does not appear: the early funded cohort holds under 30 loans. Treat it as not measured. This cell is therefore a record of lending volume and cancellations rather than of repayment, so a Colorado clinic file should be weighed against volume and cancellation, not against any loss history.

What the study has to answer

A therapy clinic's revenue depends on referral sources and payer mix, so the study should identify referring physicians and the share of visits paid by insurers, Medicare and cash. Therapist hiring and licensure set capacity, and visit counts per therapist per day set revenue, so the forecast should show a ramp from opening to a stable schedule. Buildout cost is small beside many classes, and the analysis should say whether the request, set beside the $150,000 median, is a leasehold fit-out, equipment or a practice purchase. Coverage should be shown on conservative visit volumes, and when real estate is included, on the rent a clinic tenant could pay.