Veterinary Clinic Feasibility Study in Kentucky

Overrepresented in the state, small in size

Veterinary clinics are a class where Kentucky punches above its weight in count but not in dollars. The FY2017 to FY2026 files show 31 clinic loans in Kentucky totalling $13.8 million gross. The location quotient of 1.18x means veterinary work claims a bigger slice of Kentucky lending than of lending nationwide, even though the state ranks only 35 of 53 for clinic loans, and veterinary clinics place 15 of 39 among Kentucky asset classes. Loan size runs the other way: the $200,000 median is only 0.32x what clinics borrow nationally, with the middle half spanning $100,000 to $612,500. Kentucky clinics are financed in small steps, plausibly practice purchases, equipment and fit-out rather than large new hospitals.

Program mix and lenders

SBA 7(a) carried 28 of the loans and SBA 504 carried 3, and franchise share is 0.00%, so this is an independent-practice class. Huntington National Bank is first among 7(a) lenders here with 6 loans and $1.5 million. Jefferson County has 5 loans and Fayette 4, McCracken and Woodford have 3 each, Boone and Oldham 2 each, and Estill, Fulton, Greenup and Hardin 1 each. The spread from Louisville and Lexington to far western and eastern counties shows clinics being financed outside the metros too. Approvals ran at 6 in FY2024, 5 in FY2022 and none in FY2021, so volume depends on the year.

What the outcome data can and cannot say

Kentucky clinic cohorts are below 30 loans, so the page carries no cancellation or charge-off rate, and silence is not the same as none. A quiet record here is not proof of low risk; rates on other pages are floors.

Testing a Kentucky clinic plan

Begin with the animal population the trade area can support, which is not the same as human population: pet ownership, household incomes, and the number of general and specialty practices already serving the area. Staffing is the binding constraint, because a clinic cannot open fully without licensed veterinarians and technicians, and the study should show how they will be recruited and retained. Price the project against a ticket near $200,000, keeping the purchase of goodwill apart from build-out and diagnostic equipment. Coverage must hold through the months when a new or acquired practice is rebuilding its client base. An appraiser will value either the practice as a going concern or the real estate, and the study should state which, so the collateral story is clear to a lender.