SBA 7(a) Warehouse Feasibility Study in Ohio

Ohio public warehousing under 7(a): very small loans

Public warehousing in Ohio borrows at less than half the national scale: a $150,000 median equals 0.43x the nationwide one, and a typical warehouse loan falls from $70,800 to $526,000. The record holds 29 approvals worth $10.3 million. Franchising is 13.8%. Ohio ranks 6 among states by count, while warehousing stands at 23 of 39 inside Ohio, which says the state is a large user of the program but not primarily for warehouses. No metric on this page is flagged against Ohio lending overall or warehousing nationally.

One bank, Franklin County

The Huntington National Bank holds 14 loans and $4.1 million, the only holder in the table. Franklin County has 9 loans, Cuyahoga 4, and Hamilton, Lorain and Williams 3 each. Approvals include none in FY2018, a busy FY2021 of 6 loans and $2.5 million, a middling FY2022 of 5 loans and $1.7 million, and a single loan of $150,000 in FY2026, the lowest dollar figure of the late years.

Ohio's public warehouse loans are too few to yield a cancellation or loss rate, so the page prints none and offers no number.

Reading the class correctly

The class is public warehousing only. A warehouse that a manufacturer or distributor owns and uses is coded to that business's industry, so the loans here are not the whole of Ohio's warehouse lending. A study for an Ohio public warehouse should test the building and the customers: clear height, dock doors, truck court, power and fire protection, plus access to interstates and rail. A third-party operator should show the pipeline of customers and the contract terms that make income predictable; an owner who rents space should document rents and vacancy at buildings like it. The study should say whether the loan funds a building or equipment such as racking and forklifts, and then show the insurance, taxes and upkeep for the building. Coverage must hold with a slow ramp in volume. Appraisal will look to market rent and the condition of the building, so the study should document both, along with insurance, taxes and upkeep of the roof and the paved yard, which can be large for an older building.

At a $150,000 median, the study should itemise any equipment such as racking, forklifts and security systems, state its useful life, and show that the revenue it supports covers replacement as well as the monthly payment.