STATE GUIDE
Independent third-party feasibility studies for SBA 7(a) and SBA 504 projects across Florida, prepared to SOP 50 10 8 standards for lenders, CDCs, and SBA review.
8.5%
Share of national 7(a) volume, FY2025
1,919
North Florida district loans, FY2025
$1.2B
North Florida district lending, FY2025
3.1M+
Florida small businesses
3.5M
Floridians employed by small businesses
#1
Florida First Capital national 504 rank, FY2020
+31%
St. Johns County lending growth, FY2025
$10M
Combined 7(a) and 504 cap from July 4, 2026
Florida carries roughly 8.5 percent of national SBA 7(a) approvals and dollars, the second-largest share of any state, and fiscal 2025 was a record year: the North Florida district alone closed 1,919 loans, up 10 percent, for nearly $1.2 billion, with St. Johns County growing 31 percent. More than 3.1 million small businesses, over 99 percent of all Florida businesses, employ about 3.5 million people.
The named program record concentrates where Florida's economy does: a four-deal brewery financing chain through Florida First Capital running from ground-up construction to startup equipment, a $4.5 million assisted living expansion from 38 to 92 beds, a $4 million childcare campus in Tallahassee, and the Ice Plant restaurant and bar in St. Augustine.
Under SOP 50 10 8, special-purpose properties such as hotels, car washes, gas stations, self-storage, RV parks, and marinas normally require a third-party feasibility study, and projection-based deals carry the same expectation. The SBA serves Florida through two districts: North Florida in Jacksonville, covering 43 counties from Orlando through the Panhandle under District Director Jonel Hein, and South Florida, with offices in Miami, Fort Pierce, and Tampa covering 24 southern counties.
Between FY2010 and FY2026, SBA lenders approved and disbursed 52,593 7(a) and 504 loans across all industries in Florida, totaling $28.75 billion at an average of $547,000 per loan. 86.8% were 7(a) loans, the remainder 504. 11,266 loans have been approved since FY2024.
Among the 33,444 seasoned loans in Florida (approvals FY2010–FY2021), 11.0% reached adverse resolution — purchased, liquidated, or charged off — compared with 7.3% nationally. That performance runs above the national all-industry benchmark, which lenders weigh in underwriting. The state's most active SBA asset classes by loan count are restaurant, manufacturing, and medical or dental practice.
| Asset class | Loans FY2010–FY2026 | Approved volume | Average loan | Seasoned adverse rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Restaurant | 4,028 | $2.45 billion | $607,000 | 12.0% |
| Manufacturing | 3,104 | $2.17 billion | $698,000 | 8.6% |
| Medical or dental practice | 2,269 | $1.43 billion | $629,000 | 5.0% |
| Trucking and logistics | 1,463 | $457.3 million | $313,000 | 19.8% |
| Childcare center | 1,148 | $1.03 billion | $901,000 | 3.2% |
| Hotel | 825 | $1.86 billion | $2.3 million | 2.9% |
| Fitness center | 809 | $384.9 million | $476,000 | 16.4% |
| Veterinary clinic | 525 | $535.5 million | $1.0 million | 1.5% |
| Event venue | 473 | $154.6 million | $327,000 | – |
| Gas station and c-store | 373 | $271.4 million | $728,000 | 7.7% |
| Car wash | 364 | $489.6 million | $1.3 million | 7.0% |
| Assisted living | 318 | $383.2 million | $1.2 million | 6.8% |
| Liquor store | 154 | $84.0 million | $545,000 | 6.0% |
| Self-storage | 128 | $196.7 million | $1.5 million | 0.9% |
| Brewery, distillery, or winery | 119 | $77.0 million | $647,000 | 13.5% |
| Laundromat | 81 | $45.7 million | $564,000 | 9.3% |
| Marina or boat storage | 54 | $72.5 million | $1.3 million | 0.0% |
| RV park | 30 | $59.3 million | $2.0 million | – |
– State-level rate not published where the seasoned cohort is under 30 loans; national benchmarks apply. Details in our data methodology.
Source: SBA 7(a) and 504 FOIA loan-level data, as of March 31, 2026. Disbursed loans only.
With 52,593 disbursed SBA loans and $28.75 billion in approved financing, Florida gives credit committees a genuine local comparison set, and a rigorous third-party feasibility study is the report that anchors the projection and coverage case. On program structure, working-capital and acquisition deals typically anchor on SBA 7(a), while owner-occupied real estate and heavy equipment typically fit SBA 504. A rigorous third-party feasibility study is what turns those local numbers into a defensible credit narrative for the lender's underwriter and credit committee.
State loss experience
Mature-cohort SBA 7(a) loans in Florida charged off at 9.54 percent by count and 3.64 percent by dollar, against national baselines of 6.44 and 2.92 percent. See the full 50-state analysis.
SBA 7(a) and 504 lending data for the five largest SBA-lending metropolitan areas in Florida.
19,284 loans · $9.29 billion approved
8,109 loans · $4.62 billion approved
6,148 loans · $3.45 billion approved
3,860 loans · $2.27 billion approved
2,362 loans · $1.52 billion approved
INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT
Florida First Capital is the state's leading 504 lender and was the number one SBA 504 lender in the nation in fiscal 2020, with 362 authorizations, $343.7 million in approved 504 dollars, and $773.4 million in total project financing, operating across Florida, Alabama, and Georgia. Its brewery book documents the 504 program covering every stage of a production business's life: Inner Compass Brewing's $2.8 million ground-up build in Bradenton with a 7,500 square foot brewery, taproom, restaurant, and event space, stacked with $300,000 in Rebuild Florida working capital; Crooked Can Brewing's $3.4 million project inside Winter Garden's Plant Street Market; Grasslands Brewing's roughly $550,000 equipment loan in Tallahassee; and the veteran-owned Veterans United Craft Brewery startup in Jacksonville.
For feasibility work the chain teaches the structure of the class: production economics and hospitality revenue are separate engines and a credible study models them separately, equipment-heavy 504 structures change the collateral and projection analysis, and the Inner Compass stack shows state gap programs layering onto the debenture. The same lifecycle logic generalizes to restaurants and event venues across Florida's tourism economy.
$343.7M
Florida First Capital approved 504 dollars, FY2020
$773.4M
Total project financing, FY2020
$2.8M
Inner Compass Brewing project
4
Named brewery financings in the chain
Anonymized summaries of comparable feasibility studies we have delivered, including scope, methodology, and lender outcome.
NAICS NAICS 7211 family
NAICS 721211
NAICS NAICS 7225 family
NAICS No dedicated NAICS; 812990 proxy segment
NAICS 811192
NAICS NAICS 447 and 457 families
NAICS 531130
NAICS 624410
NAICS NAICS 6233 family
NAICS NAICS 6211, 6212
NAICS 541940
NAICS 713940
NAICS 812310
NAICS NAICS 445310, 445320
NAICS NAICS 484, 4885, 4931 families
NAICS 31-33
NAICS 3121
NAICS 713930
The SBA serves Florida through two district offices: North Florida in Jacksonville, covering 43 counties from Orlando through Jacksonville to the Panhandle and led by District Director Jonel Hein, and South Florida, operating from Miami with offices in Fort Pierce and Tampa across 24 southern counties, supported by one of the largest Small Business Development Center networks in the country.
SBA lending has no geographic eligibility test, so Florida feasibility work follows the demand map: Miami and South Florida, Tampa Bay, Orlando, and Jacksonville carry the deepest volume, while tourism flows and the nation's largest retiree in-migration drive the hospitality, assisted living, and marine classes statewide. Seasonality is the defining analytical problem: credible Florida projections model monthly demand curves, not annual averages.
Major SBA lenders active in Florida include Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, TD Bank, Truist, and Seacoast Bank, alongside the national 7(a) leaders Live Oak, Huntington, and Newtek. Borrowers should note the oversight climate: in May 2026 USDA revoked ten lenders from its own guaranteed programs, including Celtic Bank and ReadyCap, both top-tier SBA 7(a) lenders active in Florida, and a June 2026 Senate letter asked the SBA to review their records; no SBA action has been announced, and the practical takeaway is to confirm any lender's current preferred status and recent program activity before committing a deal to it.
Florida First Capital leads the state's 504 market, held the national number one ranking in fiscal 2020, operates across Florida, Alabama, and Georgia, and also administers state and green financing programs. CDC selection matters: the CDC underwrites the debenture, addresses special-purpose status in its credit memorandum, and carries the package through SBA processing.
For loans in fiscal 2026 under SOP 50 10 8, effective June 1, 2025 and amended March 1, 2026: 7(a) loans run to $5 million with an 85 percent guaranty up to $150,000 and 75 percent above, statutory fees restored, and a 0.55 percent annual service fee, with fees waived for small manufacturers on loans up to $950,000. 504 debentures run to $5 million, or $5.5 million for manufacturers and energy projects, on the 50/40/10 structure, with manufacturer fees waived and other 504 loans at a 0.50 percent upfront fee and 0.209 percent annual fee. Equity injection follows the 10/15/20 ladder, and from July 4, 2026 eligible borrowers can combine programs for up to $10 million. Florida stacking: the Rebuild Florida Business Loan Fund layers working capital onto 504 structures, as the Inner Compass financing demonstrated, Florida SSBCI programs and the Florida SBDC network support borrowers statewide, and C-PACE is available for energy components.
Lenders and Certified Development Companies in Florida do not need a business plan writer, they need an independent SBA feasibility study consultant whose conclusions survive credit committee. Our feasibility study company prepares signed, sourced studies to SOP 50 10 8 standards, with the analyst and reviewer named on the report.
Every Florida engagement is calibrated to the program the file routes through: 7(a), 504 or Express. See when SBA requires a feasibility study, cost and turnaround, projections and DSCR testing and the methodology behind each Florida study. Lenders and CDCs can start at for lenders or the CDC compliance guide.
About the firm and the analyst signing Florida work: David Jones, MAI, CCIM, over 4,300 feasibility studies completed.
Fifteen-minute scoping call, written proposal inside one business day, firm fixed fee before you sign.
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