SBA Feasibility Study Consultant in Arkansas

Why Arkansas lenders and CDCs order a feasibility study

SBA lenders and CDCs ask for a feasibility study when repayment depends on projections rather than history: start-ups, ground-up construction, expansions, special-purpose property such as hotels, car washes, fuel stations and childcare centers, and projects that are large relative to the borrower or the town. Under SOP 50 10 8.1, the case for an independent study has grown in these files, because most business acquisitions must now clear their coverage floor on historical or adjusted earnings. Projection-based files therefore rest more heavily on the study as the main evidence of repayment ability.

In Arkansas, the questions a credit officer asks most often are local ones. Is the trade area large enough outside Northwest Arkansas? Does the insurance quote carry a separate wind/hail deductible? Is the site in a wet or dry county? Does a tourism-dependent business survive the winter trough? Our studies answer each of these with dated evidence.

FY2027 SBA fees, and why rural Arkansas borrowers should check them first

SBA's FY2027 fee notices (Information Notice 5000-881797 for 7(a), Information Notice 5000-881796 for 504) apply to loans approved from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027.

The lender-paid 7(a) annual service fee is 0.55% for FY2027. On the 504 side, most projects pay an upfront fee of 0.50% and an annual fee of 0.203% on the debenture, and both fees are waived for qualifying manufacturers, specified food-supply-chain businesses and businesses located in rural areas.

A large share of Arkansas sits outside its metro areas, so the rural waiver can remove the entire upfront guaranty fee on a $700,000 7(a) loan. At a 75% guaranty, that is $15,750 that would otherwise be paid at the standard 3% rate. We confirm whether a site address qualifies as rural under SBA's definition at intake and price the study's sources and uses on the correct fee schedule.

Major Arkansas projects that move local demand

Three large projects are changing demand in their regions. A feasibility study for a hotel, restaurant, RV park, housing or service business nearby should account for construction-phase demand separately from permanent demand.

For projects in Mississippi County, note that the combined sales tax in Osceola is 11.0% (DFA table, October–December 2026). Construction crews create short-term lodging and food demand, so we model the 2026–2029 build period and the permanent operating period as separate demand scenarios rather than one blended forecast.

Arkansas operating costs and risks we model

Labor

The Arkansas minimum wage has been $11.00 per hour since January 1, 2021 for employers with four or more employees, with a $2.63 tipped cash wage and a maximum tip credit of $8.37, per the Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing. State law preempts local minimum wages. Arkansas's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.9% in September 2026, per the state's release of October 20, 2026. Because the legal floor is low and stable, our labor models use actual hiring wages for the trade area, which run higher in Northwest Arkansas for restaurants and childcare.

Taxes

The top corporate income tax rate has been 4.3% since January 1, 2024. SB1/HB1001, signed May 6, 2026, sets it at 4.1% for tax years beginning January 1, 2027. The top individual rate, which applies to pass-through owners, is 3.7%, retroactive to January 1, 2026. Act 1008 of 2025 removed the 0.125% state sales tax on groceries effective January 1, 2026; local taxes on groceries still apply. Combined sales tax rates differ by city, and we use the exact rate for the site address (see the city table below).

Combined sales tax by city

Arkansas's state sales tax is 6.5%. City and county rates are added on top, and they change during the year. Conway's city rate rose from 1.75% to 2.125% on April 1, 2026. El Dorado's city rate has been 1.75% since July 1, 2026. The table below adds the 6.5% state rate to the local totals in DFA's list of local sales and use tax rates for October–December 2026.

Lodging and prepared-food taxes

Hotels and restaurants pay local advertising and promotion (A&P) or hotel taxes on top of the combined sales tax, and lodging also carries the 2% state tourism tax. Rates published by each city or its A&P commission:

• Little Rock: 4% lodging, 2% prepared food.
• Bentonville: 2% lodging, 1% prepared food (in place since an October 10, 1995 ordinance).
• Rogers: 3% hotel tax since September 1, 2017; Rogers lists the total tax on a guest room at 14.5%.
• Fayetteville: 2% hotel, motel and restaurant tax (1% A&P plus 1% parks) on lodging and prepared food.
• Springdale: 2.0% lodging tax since July 12, 2011.
• Fort Smith: 3% lodging tax.
• Conway: 2% lodging, including short-term rentals, and 2% prepared food.
• Jonesboro: 4% lodging (a 1% increase approved December 7, 2021) and 2% prepared food from January 1, 2022.
• Eureka Springs: 3% lodging and 3% restaurant and beverage; voters retained the tax in November 2024, 839 to 339.

Our hotel models apply the full room-tax stack for the exact city, which runs from about 13% to 14.5% across these markets in 2026 (combined sales tax plus local lodging tax plus the 2% state tourism tax; for example, Fort Smith is 9.5% + 3% + 2% = 14.5%).

Fuel taxes

For October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027, the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration set total motor fuel tax at $0.247 per gallon on gasoline and $0.285 per gallon on clear diesel, plus the $0.003 per gallon Petroleum Environmental Assurance Fee (announcement dated July 31, 2026). Our fuel station and travel center studies build margins net of these rates.

Severe weather and insurance

Four federal declarations from 2024 through January 2026 cover Arkansas:

• DR-4788: Memorial Day tornadoes in Benton, Boone and Marion counties, May 24–27, 2024 (declared May 30–31, 2024). The Decatur EF3 set a state record width of 3,200 yards. Rogers reported $45 million in damage to city facilities and infrastructure.
• DR-4865: tornadoes of March 14–15, 2025 across nine counties (Greene, Hot Spring, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Lawrence, Randolph, Sharp and Stone), approved on appeal May 8, 2025.
• DR-4873: storms, tornadoes and flooding of April 2–22, 2025, declared May 21, 2025 for 39 of 75 counties, including Pulaski, Saline, Craighead and Miller.
• EM-3636: an emergency declaration for the severe winter storm that began January 23, 2026, covering all 75 counties (issued January 24, 2026). A USDA Farm Service Agency notice of March 17, 2026 reports that FEMA designated 54 primary Arkansas counties for the January 23 – February 6, 2026 storm, including Benton, Washington, Pulaski, Saline, Garland, Sebastian, Faulkner and Pope.

The March 31, 2023 Little Rock EF3 tornado shows the scale of loss: the Arkansas Insurance Department reported insurers had paid over $489 million in related claims as of December 31, 2023.

Insurance cost is now a first-order underwriting variable. Since Bulletin 17-2023 (November 2, 2023), the Arkansas Insurance Department has allowed insurers to require a separate wind/hail deductible and a roof-schedule endorsement for roofs seven years or older. The Arkansas Senate reported in November 2024 that the property insurance loss ratio had reached 130%, that rates had risen 15–20% on average the prior year, and that eight companies had stopped writing policies in the state. Our studies use a bound insurance quote where one exists and model at least one deductible-sized loss over a 10-year horizon. As an illustration, a 2% wind/hail deductible on a $1.5 million building is a $30,000 retained loss per event.

Arkansas market signals by asset class

The figures below supplement the SBA FOIA asset-class data above. Each is dated.

Since the LEARNS Act of 2023, child care licensing in Arkansas has been run by the Office of Early Childhood within the Arkansas Department of Education.

Subsidy rules changed twice in late 2025. New rates took effect October 1, 2025, and on November 3, 2025 the Office of Early Childhood accepted tiered rates effective November 1, 2025. The top-tier statewide infant rate is now $63 a day, against $75 at Level 6 before October 1, 2025, about 16% lower. The same office approved calculating family copays on the base rate, removing the 72-month family lifetime limit and raising the weekly work requirement from 20 to 30 hours at each family's redetermination. Childcare Development Fund resources total about $127 million a year (November 2025). We build childcare revenue from these schedules rather than from pre-October 2025 rates.

Fees, timing and what an Arkansas study includes

Our Arkansas SBA feasibility studies start at $4,900. Standard delivery is 10–15 business days, and hotel studies take 12–20 business days. You receive a written fixed-fee proposal within one business day of sending the project details.

Each study covers market and trade-area demand, competitive supply, a site and access review, operating projections, debt service coverage under SOP 50 10 8.1, sources and uses priced on FY2027 SBA fees, and sensitivity tests for insurance, weather, seasonality and rate changes. Studies are signed by David Jones, MAI, CCIM, who has completed more than 4,300 SBA feasibility studies.