SBA 7(a) Quick Service Restaurant Feasibility Study in West Virginia

Quick service restaurant loans in West Virginia: size and franchising

Counting FY2017 to FY2026, West Virginia shows 49 SBA 7(a) approvals for quick service restaurants, adding up to $14.5 million in gross dollars. Loan size in West Virginia centers on $200,000, with the middle half of the quick service restaurants book between $65,500 and $381,000. Relative to quick service restaurants nationwide under SBA 7(a), the West Virginia figure is 0.67x, so a typical West Virginia loan for quick service restaurants runs smaller than nationwide. A franchise flag sits on 61.2% of the loans, a majority for quick service restaurants in West Virginia. Every figure above is West Virginia's alone.

Going by SBA 7(a) loan counts for quick service restaurants, rank 48 belongs to West Virginia; the class sits at 2 of 39 in West Virginia's own table. West Virginia quick service restaurants reached their top year in FY2021 with 9 loans and $2.6 million, with FY2026 at 3 loans, $823,800. West Virginia ranks low by count for 7(a) fast-food lending, yet the class ranks 2 of 39 in its own state, so this page is about a program that matters locally more than nationally.

SBA lists The Huntington National Bank as the leading holder for West Virginia quick service restaurants, with 10 loans worth $2.3 million. Next come Peoples Bank: 5 loans, $1.4 million in all and Citizens Bank of West Virginia, Inc: 5 loans, $706,000 in all. The Huntington National Bank opens SBA's list for West Virginia quick service restaurants; the 49 loans show holders past and present in West Virginia, not how any lends. Geographically, Cabell stands first with 6, Monongalia second with 6, and Berkeley third with 5. Further down the list stand Kanawha 5, Hancock 3 and Harrison 3.

West Virginia outcomes: cancellations, charge-offs and code limits

Across FY2017 to FY2024 approvals in West Virginia, a cancellation floor of 13.2%; with undisbursed loans counted as cancelled, the West Virginia ceiling stays at 13.2%. As for charge-offs, funded West Virginia loans cannot carry a rate, leaving losses unknown. Conventional loans in West Virginia stay outside this file.

Testing a West Virginia quick service unit

Small-market restaurants live on a few road corners, so count cars at the exact site near Cabell and name every competing drive-thru within a short drive. With a median loan of $200,000, projects here are modest, and rent or ownership cost belongs beside sales. A franchised unit should come with the franchisor's own disclosure and unit economics, since brand averages can cover for weak sites. Open hours and shift scheduling fix the cost floor, so the plan should staff the slowest quarter. An appraiser prices the building by what a second operator could afford.