SBA 7(a) Quick Service Restaurant Feasibility Study in Maine

Maine: small drive-throughs and counters

Limited-service restaurants hold second place among Maine's 39 classes under SBA 7(a), with 99 loans approved from FY2017 to FY2026 totaling $25.6 million. Maine is 37th among states by count. A $133,900 median is only 0.45x the class's national reading, and the inner half of loans ranges between $50,000 and $300,000. The median is the one distinctive measure of the cell. Franchise brands account for 20.2% of loans.

Cumberland and York dominate

Cumberland County has 54 loans and York 17, which together carry the file. Hancock and Kennebec have 6 each, while Androscoggin and Penobscot have 3, and Franklin, Knox and Sagadahoc have 2. The holders SBA names include Bangor Savings Bank (19 loans, $2.8 million), Maine Community Bank (17 loans, $3.4 million), TD Bank, National Association (10, $2.8 million), with 8 loans each at Androscoggin Savings Bank ($2.3 million) and Norway Savings Bank ($3.2 million). Maine Community Bank's average ticket is larger than Bangor's. A borrower should read the names as holder records.

How the Maine loans have fared

Cancellation after approval is at least 3.7%, and no higher than 4.9% when undisbursed loans are counted. Of the 36 early loans that funded, charge-offs so far are at least 5.6%, while the five-year measure is 0.00%. Because the cohort is small and some loans remain open, those are minimums. Read the charge-off figure with care: it rests on 36 loans, so one or two defaults would move it noticeably. Annual flow ran from 10 loans and $1.9 million in FY2017 to 11 and $2.8 million in FY2021, then fell to 5 and $1.6 million in FY2026.

What a Maine study has to cover

A Maine study should model the full year, not the summer. That means cold-season sales in the specific town, labor availability, and the cost of building or renovating a small counter-service space against a loan near $133,900. It should test the competition in Cumberland County or along the York County coast, and show how debt service is met during the quietest months. If the concept is branded, the franchisor's fees and required fit-out belong in the budget, though franchising is the minority case here.