Feasibility Study Data for the Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA Metro Area

Waterloo: what the area shows

Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA is a metropolitan area, and its 288 SBA approvals in FY2017 to FY2026 carried $97.8 million in gross dollars. Waterloo differs most on loan size: a $150,000 median, 0.72x of the national median, and Waterloo's gap clears our margin. Waterloo counts as a mid-table area, ranked 248 of 928 by loans. Every class is counted together for Waterloo. A slice of IA is not how Waterloo is treated.

Waterloo: half of loans run $75,000 to $338,050, around a median of $150,000. Waterloo sits well below the national level, at 0.72x the national median, so a Waterloo study should size its request from Waterloo approvals. Waterloo: 7(a) leads the mix, with 254 7(a) loans against 34 under 504. Waterloo franchise loans reach 11.8%, so brand standards often shape a Waterloo request there.

Classes, counties and lenders in Waterloo

Waterloo's tracked classes, largest first: 24 loans in full-service restaurant; 13 loans in limited-service restaurant; 6 loans in grocery store; 5 loans in coffee shop and snack bar. 205 Waterloo loans sit outside the tracked classes, so Waterloo operating businesses show up in these totals. Waterloo counts by county run 234 loans in Black Hawk County, IA, 37 loans in Bremer County, IA, and 17 loans in Grundy County, IA; a Waterloo study should say which it covers. Waterloo 7(a) lending is led by 34 loans at Lincoln Savings Bank ($13.0 million); 31 loans at First Bank (IA) ($9.9 million); 18 loans at U.S. Bank, National Association ($2.4 million). SBA keeps records of Waterloo loans each lender holds or held; Lincoln Savings Bank leads with 34, and no Waterloo lender is judged.

Waterloo ended FY2026 at 24 loans, lower than FY2017's 35; the peak came in FY2021 (38 loans, $11.5 million) and the low in FY2023 (21). A Waterloo borrower should know the cancellation record: 8.9% as a floor and 8.9% as a ceiling, for FY2017 to FY2024 Waterloo approvals. Waterloo prints no charge-off floor: of 288 loans, the cohort is too thin. Waterloo withholds it; withheld is not zero. Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA membership follows the July 2023 delineation; Waterloo counties are matched by name, and a Waterloo loan with no match is dropped, so 288 is a floor, and every Waterloo rate is too.

Waterloo: testing a project

For Waterloo, a study tests Waterloo demand within a defined trade area, since Black Hawk County, IA dominates Waterloo loan counts. If a Waterloo concept resembles full-service restaurant, Waterloo offers size and lender precedent; other Waterloo concepts must rest on their own Waterloo evidence. Test Waterloo coverage of debt service on a $150,000 loan, and on a $338,050 loan, after pricing Waterloo costs from bids. Waterloo appraisals compare within one submarket of Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA, not across averages. The Waterloo record frames questions, and each lender in Waterloo decides on its own.