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

Quick service in Oregon: lower-priced loans, mid-range losses

Oregon puts counter-service restaurants second in its class table of 39, and the state ranks 24 by count of 7(a) loans for them. The file shows 239 approvals since FY2017, totalling $91.5 million. A median of $250,000 equals 0.84x of the nationwide figure, and the central loans range between $50,000 and $517,000. Franchised units make up 46.4% of loans, so the file mixes brand franchisees and independent counters nearly equally.

Where the lending is

Multnomah County leads with 45 loans, Washington County has 38, and Clackamas 22, so the Portland area accounts for the bulk of the activity. Jackson County follows with 19, Deschutes with 18 and Marion with 17, which brings in southern Oregon, the high desert and the Willamette Valley. Volume was lowest in FY2022, at 14 loans, and highest in FY2026, at 34 loans worth $12.4 million.

Lenders

Columbia Bank holds 44 loans and U.S. Bank, National Association 30, with KeyBank National Association and Banner Bank at 10 each and Gulf Coast Bank and Trust Company at 9. The names come from SBA's record of the present holder, and nothing here describes a bank's practices. The concentration in the first two is a feature of the Oregon file.

Floors

Cancellation ran at no less than 14.7% for approvals from FY2017 to FY2024, and 16.9% when undisbursed loans are counted. Looking at the 95 loans funded in FY2017 through FY2021, 5.3% have been charged off, with 3.2% reached inside five years. Lenders should read both as minimums, since open loans can still add to them.

What an Oregon quick service study has to test

For a franchise, the brand's economics come first, then the site: drive-through capacity, traffic, visibility and the density of competing counters. For an independent, test the menu, the price point and the supply of labour. Compare build or conversion costs with a loan near $250,000, price the lease or land separately, and show that coverage of payments holds through a wet winter and a slow opening. Appraisers will want sales evidence, so the forecast should be anchored to comparable units, and the study should say plainly which sales figures come from the franchisor and which from the local market. A forecast resting on an unverified brand average will not survive review.