SBA Feasibility Study Consultant in Alabama

Growth Corridors and Regional Markets

Huntsville / Madison County

Madison County 433,516, now the state's second-largest county; Huntsville 233,627, the largest city, up 8.7% since 2020; metro 556,444 (Census Vintage 2025). Limestone County was the fastest-growing county for the seventh straight year, +3,877 (3.3%) to 122,928 in 2025 (WZDX).

Baldwin County and the Gulf Coast

Baldwin County 267,761 in 2025, up 15.5% since 2020 (CBER). Foley (30,300+) was the fastest-growing Alabama city of 10,000+ residents at 7.8% (Census Vintage 2025). Daphne approved a six-month pause on new apartment applications and Fairhope extended its multifamily and small-lot moratorium (WEAR-TV; Gulf Coast Media).

Mobile

City of Mobile 200,824, now the second-largest city after annexation, while Mobile County lost 3,154 residents from 2020 to 2025 (CBER). Demand here is industrial and job-driven.

Birmingham metro

About 1,197,766 residents in 2025, +0.3% in the latest year. Shelby County (+15,521) is the suburban growth engine; Shelby unemployment was 3% and Pelham 2.6% in September 2026 (Alabama Department of Workforce).

Montgomery and I-85 to Auburn-Opelika

Lee County +15,544 since 2020; Chambers County unemployment 3% in September 2026 (ADOW). Auburn University enrollment reached 35,733 in fall 2026 (+1.6%).

Tuscaloosa

Mercedes-Benz U.S. International (Vance) is scheduled to add GLC production in 2027. Tuscaloosa city unemployment was 5.0% in September 2026 (ADOW), so staffing assumptions need care.

Dothan

Six 2025 projects totaling $118.7 million and 198 jobs, led by a $70 million AmerisourceBergen/ASD Specialty Care distribution expansion (Commerce, January 2026).

Florence and the Shoals

Colbert County tourism spending exceeded $122 million in 2025, with direct tourism jobs up 5.4% (Alabama Tourism Department).

Decatur

GE Appliances is moving six refrigerator models into its Decatur plant (August 2025); Nucor announced a $60 million, 60-job pole expansion.

Gadsden

Pencco's new water-treatment chemicals plant, $10 million and 30 jobs (Commerce, 2025 report).

2026 Cost and Policy Factors for Alabama Pro Formas

• Business personal property tax: Act 2025-344 raised the state-levied exemption from $40,000 to $100,000 of market value for collections in 2026 and later; ADOR amended rule 810-4-1-.14 on May 15, 2026. The exemption covers only the state levy; counties and cities apply it to their millage only if they opt in by ordinance or resolution. Many small car wash, restaurant and c-store equipment packages now owe little or no state BPP tax.
• Commercial property is assessed at 20% of market value (Class II), against 10% for owner-occupied residential (Class III).
• Fuel tax: 30¢/gal gasoline and 31¢/gal undyed diesel since July 1, 2025 (Alabama Department of Revenue). Under the Rebuild Alabama Act the rate is indexed to the National Highway Construction Cost Index every other year, with each change capped at 1¢; the next scheduled adjustment date is July 1, 2027. A 2¢ per gallon inspection fee also applies.
• Sales tax: state rate 4%, with local rates stacking to combined rates commonly of 9–10% or more. Act 2025-305 cut the state rate on SNAP-eligible food from 3% to 2% on September 1, 2025. Act 2026-604 suspended the 2% state grocery tax from May 1 through June 30, 2026; the 2% state rate resumed July 1, 2026, and local food taxes were not suspended. Prepared food and restaurant meals are taxed at the full combined rate. Act 2025-280 lets cities and counties opt out of new state sales tax exemptions.
• Labor: Alabama has no state minimum wage, so the federal $7.25 applies; market wages for restaurant, hotel and childcare staff run well above it. Statewide unemployment was 3.5% in September 2026 (preliminary, seasonally adjusted), up from 3.4% in August and 2.8% in September 2025, the highest since June 2021: 82,075 unemployed in a labor force of 2,362,012. Payroll employment still rose 24,300 over the year to 2,218,800, led by leisure and hospitality (+10,200), private education and health services (+7,300) and professional and business services (+6,800) (Alabama Department of Workforce, October 2026 release). Budget wages from current BLS OEWS metro data.
• Childcare: DHR's Child Care Services Division licenses centers and homes and runs the subsidy program. Its page showed 1,400 licensed centers, 490 licensed homes and 40,220 children receiving subsidized care (DHR, November 2026). DHR placed new non-priority subsidy applications received on or after May 8, 2026 on a waitlist; a DHR spokesperson put the waitlist at about 3,197 families and 5,327 children (WBRC, November 2, 2026), including 429 families in North Alabama (WAFF, October 29, 2026). Centers that rely on new subsidized enrollment should be stress-tested on private-pay mix and employer partnerships; Toyota is opening an on-site center at its Huntsville plant and Hyundai opened a $14 million center in 2025. Two 2024 state childcare tax credits (for employers that help with employee childcare costs, and for providers serving subsidized children) sunset at the end of 2027 under current law.
• Assisted living: the Alabama Department of Public Health licenses assisted living facilities under Ala. Admin. Code ch. 420-5-4 and memory care as Specialty Care Assisted Living Facilities (SCALF) under ch. 420-5-20. SCALF beds also require a Certificate of Need from the State Health Planning and Development Agency (ch. 410-1-5B), which makes memory care the higher-barrier product.
• Coastal insurance: Strengthen Alabama Homes pays up to $10,000 per owner-occupied single-family home for a FORTIFIED roof; its 2026 grant rounds opened in Mobile and Baldwin counties, with Baldwin rounds in January, April, July and October 2026. The program does not cover commercial property, so coastal hotel, RV park and storage studies use firm wind and named-storm quotes and budget for high deductibles. The Alabama Insurance Underwriting Association "Beach Pool" is the wind and hail insurer of last resort in Baldwin and Mobile counties.
• C-PACE: the PIER Act (Act 2015-494) authorizes local governments and improvement districts to establish C-PACE programs, with regulatory oversight assigned to ADECA's Energy Division.
• Incentives: the 2023 Game Plan renewed the Jobs Act and Growing Alabama through 2028 and created SEEDS site grants. SEEDS has steered more than $138 million to industrial sites; Round 4 opened in July 2026. The "Powering Growth" package was signed May 14, 2025. Act 2025-84 diverts part of industrial abatements granted after June 1, 2026 to a new Alabama Development Fund.

SBA Lending in Alabama

Alabama loan figures below come from an independent aggregation of SBA's public FOIA loan-level data (sbaloanindex.com and gosbaloans.com), labeled with each data cutoff.

National context (SBA, verified): FY2025 closed with 84,400 7(a) and 504 loans totaling $44.8 billion: 77,600 7(a) loans for $37 billion and 6,750 504 loans for $7.8 billion (SBA News Release 25-83, September 30, 2025). For the fiscal year ended September 30, 2026, American Banker reported 56,130 7(a) loans for $32.4 billion and 504 dollar volume down 9% to $7.1 billion (October 9, 2026). Lumos Data put the trailing-twelve-month 7(a) default rate at 4.8% as of March 31, 2026, the highest since 2013.

FY2025 implies about 0.82% of national loan count and 0.95% of national dollars.

October–November 2025 shutdown (dated fact): SBA lending funding lapsed October 1 through November 12, 2025 (43 days). SBA's state-level projection (News Release 26-02, October 21, 2025) put Alabama at 13 loans and $8,146,962 in loan proceeds blocked per week, 28th of 51 jurisdictions by dollars in SBA's table.

CDC totals are 504 debenture amounts.

7(a) charge-off rates on Alabama loans by lender (sbaloanindex.com, same cutoff): Regions 1.99%, Live Oak 1.60%, Huntington 1.43%, PNC 5.63%, Wells Fargo 9.54%.

gosbaloans.com lists Hotels and Motels (NAICS 721110) as Alabama's top-funded 7(a) industry in 2025.

Manufacturers in NAICS 31–33 qualify for the FY2027 0% 7(a) upfront fee on loans of $700,000 or less and the FY2027 504 fee waiver.

SBA Alabama District Office

2 N. 20th St., Suite 325, Birmingham, AL 35203; 205-290-7101; Monday–Friday, 8:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m.; serves all 67 counties. Jonel Hein is listed as District Director (Acting) (SBA Alabama District page, November 2026). The 2025 National Small Business Week honorees, recognized May 13, 2025 in Birmingham, were Kimberly and Larry Lewis (PROJECTXYZ, Huntsville), Small Business Persons of the Year; Tolbert Insurance Agency (Oneonta), Rural-Owned; Southern Sun Laundry (Foley), Veteran-Owned; and Spencer Environmental Consultants (Birmingham), Woman-Owned.

504 CDCs active in Alabama

Current SBA Rules: SOP 50 10 8.1 and FY2027 Fees

SOP 50 10 8.1, Lender and Development Company Loan Programs, was issued August 14, 2026 under SBA Information Notice 5000-880695. It applies to applications that receive an SBA loan number on or after October 1, 2026.

Feasibility studies under SOP 50 10 8.1: no SBA rule makes a study automatic for every loan. The lender or CDC decides when one is needed. Requests are most common where repayment depends on projections: start-ups, ground-up construction, expansions, change-of-ownership deals where the buyer will not continue the seller's operation, and special-purpose properties such as hotels. Under Appendix 15, a change-of-ownership loan that includes commercial real estate must be structured either as two loans or as one loan with a blended maturity.

FY2027 7(a) fees (SBA Information Notice 5000-881797, published September 3, 2026; loans approved October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027):

• 0% upfront guaranty fee on 7(a) loans of $700,000 or less to manufacturers (NAICS 31–33), specified food supply-chain businesses, and businesses located in a rural area. SBA determines rural status in E-Tran from the project address and Census Bureau data.
• Other loans with maturities over 12 months: $150,000 or less, 2% of the guaranteed portion; $150,001 to $700,000, 3%; $700,001 to $5 million, 3.5% of the guaranteed portion up to $1 million plus 3.75% of the guaranteed portion above $1 million.
• Loans with maturities of 12 months or less: 0.25% of the guaranteed portion.
• Lender's annual service fee: 0.55% of the outstanding guaranteed balance. The lender pays it and cannot pass it to the borrower.
• 90-day rule: 7(a) loans approved for the same applicant (including affiliates) within 90 days are combined to set the guaranty percentage and upfront fee, even when different lenders make them.
• SBA Express loans to businesses owned and controlled by a veteran or a veteran's spouse: $0 upfront fee.

FY2027 504 fees (SBA Information Notice 5000-881796, published September 3, 2026; loans approved October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027): the upfront guaranty fee and the annual service fee are both waived for manufacturers, food supply-chain businesses, rural-area businesses, and both 504 Debt Refinance programs.

Why this matters in Alabama: the Alabama Department of Public Health counts 58 of Alabama's 67 counties as rural, with 42.3% of residents (about 2.12 million people) living in rural areas (ADPH, citing 2022 Census data). Many sub-$700,000 7(a) loans and 504 projects outside Birmingham, Huntsville, Mobile, Montgomery and Tuscaloosa can qualify for zero SBA fees in FY2027. Census urban areas do not follow county lines, so unincorporated parts of Jefferson, Madison, Mobile and Lee counties can still code as rural in E-Tran.

For program-level detail, see our SBA 7(a) feasibility study and SBA 504 feasibility study guides and our methodology.