SBA 7(a) Veterinary Clinic Feasibility Study in Wisconsin

Wisconsin's veterinary clinic file under SBA 7(a) reads as one of modest, owner-run practices rather than corporate roll-ups. The file counts 63 loans from FY2017 to FY2026, worth $41.9 million. The median comes to $333,600, and half of all loans cluster between $195,000 and $700,000. Against the nationwide 7(a) clinic median, Wisconsin comes in at 0.54x, which is the distinctive fact here: the typical Wisconsin clinic loan is roughly half the national size, and it is the only metric where this cell departs clearly from its parents.

Where the class sits

Among states, Wisconsin ranks 16 for 7(a) veterinary clinic loans by number of loans, and within Wisconsin the class is 16 of 39. That is a mid-table position in both directions, so a lender reviewing a clinic request here is looking at a familiar but not dominant kind of borrower. The franchise share of loans is 0.00%, which means every loan in the cell went to an independent practice. Counties show a spread across the state: Dane has 9 loans, Milwaukee 8, Racine 7 and Waukesha 6, with Eau Claire at 3 and Brown, Jackson, Marathon, Rock and Sauk at 2 each.

Lenders and timing

Four lenders appear in the table of current holders. Live Oak Banking Company leads with 6 loans and $4.9 million. Next in line, Wells Fargo Bank National Association shows 5 and $3.6 million, Lake Ridge Bank 5 and $2.3 million, and Citizens Bank 5 and $906,500. Each line is SBA's own tally of paper the named institution currently or formerly holds, which measures volume and nothing about underwriting. Annual approvals ran 8 in FY2017, FY2018 and FY2019, then 6, 11 and 9 through FY2022, before dropping to 1 loan in FY2023 and recovering to 5, 3 and 4 in the three years after.

Cancellation and charge-off floors

Cancellation after approval reached a floor of 12.5% for approvals made through FY2024, and adding undisbursed loans changes nothing, so floor and ceiling meet at 12.5%. Charge-offs are 0.00% to date, and also 0.00% within five years of approval, across a cohort of 35 loans. Both are floors built from what SBA has recorded, and a cohort of that size can change with a single default. A zero here is a measured floor for a funded cohort of 35, not a promise about the next loan.

Underwriting questions for a Wisconsin practice

Any study of a clinic seeking 7(a) money should test whether the practice can carry its debt at a loan well below the national median, which often means a purchase of an existing practice or a leasehold build-out rather than new construction. The study should estimate demand from the pet and livestock mix the trade area supports, model veterinarian and technician staffing, and run debt service coverage on a slow first year. It should separate the value of goodwill from real estate for the appraisal. Because the NAICS code covers the borrower's industry rather than the building, the study should also name what the facility could be used for if the practice were sold.