What SBA's own loan files show about lending in the Watertown-Fort Drum, NY Metro Area, every asset class together, and what a feasibility study for a project there has to test.
Watertown-Fort Drum has a cancellation floor of 24.3%, with the ceiling the same figure. Watertown stands apart on cancellations; Watertown clears our distinctness margin. The franchise share is withheld on this page, so no number is given. A study here should read the cancellation figure as a call to check that approvals actually reach closing.
SBA approved 127 loans across FY2017 to FY2026, $47.2 million gross, rank 415 of 928, all in Jefferson County; 119 are 7(a) and 8 are 504. Watertown loans center on $150,000. Watertown sits at 0.72x of the national figure. Watertown: half of loans span $56,000 to $350,000. Full-service restaurant is the biggest Watertown class, 8 loans, followed by hotel and motel and grocery store at 6 apiece, then gas station and truck stop at 5; 75 loans sit outside the classes. FY2017 had 25 loans and $10.6 million, the peak count; FY2022 fell to 7 loans and $1.4 million; FY2026 ended at 10 loans and $7.1 million.
Watertown Savings Bank dominates 7(a) with 50 loans and $11.3 million; Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company has 22 loans and $2.2 million, and KeyBank National Association 9 loans and $772,100. No 504 name is listed. Watertown lists come from SBA's holder records. Watertown names hold or held the loans shown. Watertown volume is no lender's verdict. Watertown counts state no requirement.
Watertown cancellations after approval reached at least 24.3%. Watertown approvals span FY2017 to FY2024. Watertown reaches 24.3% when undisbursed loans count. Watertown reports no charge-off rate. Too few Watertown loans back one; Watertown is not a zero. Every Watertown rate here is a floor, as open Watertown loans may move it. Watertown places projects by county name. Watertown loses loans lacking a placeable county. Watertown's members follow the July 2023 delineation. Watertown counts all approvals, named or not. Watertown-Fort Drum work should confirm readiness to close, check demand and cost for the specific business, stress debt service on thin revenue, and compare value with Jefferson County sales; a grocery store adds ticket size against thin margins and a hotel adds how many nights the rooms fill. Loan Analytics prepares Watertown studies. Daniel Smith, MAI, signs each Watertown study.
| Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026 | 127 |
|---|---|
| Gross dollars approved | $47.2 million |
| Median loan | $150,000 |
| Middle half of loans, from | $56,000 |
| Middle half of loans, to | $350,000 |
| SBA 7(a) loans | 119 |
| SBA 504 loans | 8 |
| Franchise share of loans | withheld |
| Rank among metro and micro areas by loans | 415 of 928 |
| Median loan against the national median | 0.72x |
| Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor) | 24.3% |
|---|---|
| The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling) | 24.3% |
| Charged off to date, FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed loans (a floor) | withheld |
Both rates are floors. SBA withholds the status of open loans, so a loan counts as charged off only once SBA reports it; a rate needs at least 30 loans in its cohort and is otherwise not reported.
SBA loans approved in the Watertown-Fort Drum, NY Metro Area, by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| FY2017 | 25 | $10.6 million |
| FY2018 | 8 | $764,400 |
| FY2019 | 14 | $3.2 million |
| FY2020 | 11 | $3.2 million |
| FY2021 | 17 | $4.0 million |
| FY2022 | 7 | $1.4 million |
| FY2023 | 10 | $6.5 million |
| FY2024 | 15 | $5.7 million |
| FY2025 | 10 | $4.8 million |
| FY2026 | 10 | $7.1 million |
| Asset class | Loans |
|---|---|
| Not in any of the 39 asset classes | 75 |
| Full-service restaurant | 8 |
| Hotel and motel | 6 |
| Grocery store | 6 |
| Gas station and truck stop | 5 |
Classes with 5 or more loans; smaller ones are withheld, and more where a small one could be derived.
| Lender | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| Watertown Savings Bank | 50 | $11.3 million |
| Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company | 22 | $2.2 million |
| KeyBank National Association | 9 | $772,100 |
| Community Bank, National Association | 7 | $703,500 |
| Readycap Lending, LLC | 5 | $3.4 million |
Lenders with 5 or more loans here; a lender with fewer is not listed, and loans SBA or a receiver holds are counted but never listed as a lender.
| County | Loans |
|---|---|
| Jefferson County, NY | 127 |
Counties with 5 or more loans; smaller ones are not listed.
Metro is the CBSA (metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area) of the loan's project county, July 2023 delineation (OMB Bulletin 23-01). The county is matched by name (manifests/ld2/county-cbsa-map.csv); a loan whose county cannot be placed in a 2023 CBSA is left out of every metro.
All assets: every 7(a) and 504 approval in the metro, including those outside the 39 asset classes.
A value marked withheld rests on fewer than 5 loans, or is withheld so that such a figure cannot be derived from other published figures.
Source: U.S. Small Business Administration, 7(a) and 504 loan-level FOIA files (data.sba.gov), as of 2026-09-30; areas from the U.S. Census Bureau CBSA delineation, July 2023 (OMB Bulletin 23-01); Loan Analytics metro cell MT-48060.
A worked example of the feasibility study a lender would read for a short-term rental project in New York, financed with a conventional bank loan.
Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a commercial project in the Watertown-Fort Drum, NY Metro Area, financed under SBA 7(a), SBA 504, USDA Business and Industry or a conventional bank loan. Tell us the project and the lender's deadline, and we reply with scope, timeline and fee.
Start with the data.
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