STATE GUIDE
Independent third-party feasibility studies for SBA 7(a) and SBA 504 projects across Illinois, prepared to SOP 50 10 8 standards for lenders, CDCs, and SBA review.
#6
National rank, SBA dollar volume
$9.24B
Illinois 7(a) dollars over the past decade
18,937
Illinois 7(a) loans over the past decade
229,617
Jobs supported by that financing
4.35 sq ft
Self-storage supply per resident
16
Byline Bank years as Illinois 7(a) Lender of the Year
$245M+
SomerCor total project investment, 2025
$10M
Combined 7(a) and 504 cap from July 4, 2026
Illinois is the sixth-largest SBA market in the country by dollar volume, with roughly $31 million in weekly loan proceeds per the SBA's own late 2025 analysis and an average loan size of $534,932 in fiscal 2024, twenty-third nationally. Over the past decade the state's 7(a) program delivered 18,937 loans for $9.24 billion supporting 229,617 jobs, concentrated in Cook, DuPage, Lake, Will, and Kane counties, and the leading category is unmistakable: general freight trucking tops Illinois SBA volume, ahead of restaurants and remodelers.
The named program record runs through SomerCor, the 2025 CDC of the Year: Buddy Bear Car Wash's four 504 loans culminating in a new automatic wash on South Kedzie for an 18-location Chicago operator, and Moovers Chicago's two 504 loans that renovated 8,500 square feet and cut occupancy costs by roughly $52,000 a year. SomerCor has deployed more than $1.84 billion since 1992, and Byline Bank has been named Illinois 7(a) Lender of the Year sixteen consecutive years.
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 the entire state through the Chicago district office under District Director Willette LeGrant, with a branch office in Springfield.
From FY2010 through FY2026, SBA activity in Illinois totalled 30,665 disbursed 7(a) and 504 loans across all industries, representing $15.32 billion in approved capital at an average loan size of $500,000. 84.8% ran under 7(a), with 504 taking the rest, and 4,923 loans have been approved since FY2024.
Among the 21,988 seasoned loans in Illinois (approvals FY2010–FY2021), 8.5% 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 trucking and logistics.
| Asset class | Loans FY2010–FY2026 | Approved volume | Average loan | Seasoned adverse rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Restaurant | 3,080 | $1.57 billion | $510,000 | 11.9% |
| Manufacturing | 2,545 | $1.92 billion | $755,000 | 6.3% |
| Trucking and logistics | 2,387 | $661.0 million | $277,000 | 9.7% |
| Medical or dental practice | 833 | $352.5 million | $423,000 | 4.5% |
| Childcare center | 543 | $366.1 million | $674,000 | 3.2% |
| Hotel | 533 | $1.11 billion | $2.1 million | 10.5% |
| Fitness center | 511 | $258.0 million | $505,000 | 13.5% |
| Gas station and c-store | 470 | $419.1 million | $892,000 | 10.3% |
| Liquor store | 317 | $211.7 million | $668,000 | 6.4% |
| Event venue | 236 | $75.7 million | $321,000 | – |
| Car wash | 193 | $234.1 million | $1.2 million | 6.0% |
| Veterinary clinic | 164 | $121.5 million | $741,000 | 2.1% |
| Brewery, distillery, or winery | 156 | $98.5 million | $631,000 | 13.0% |
| Laundromat | 139 | $67.0 million | $482,000 | 2.0% |
| Self-storage | 82 | $112.1 million | $1.4 million | 1.7% |
| Assisted living | 27 | $41.1 million | $1.5 million | – |
| Marina or boat storage | 17 | $11.6 million | $681,000 | – |
| RV park | 12 | $6.8 million | $564,000 | – |
– 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.
Across 30,665 disbursed SBA loans and $15.32 billion in approved financing, Illinois has enough local activity to give a feasibility study concrete comparables, not just national benchmarks. On the program side, most working-capital, acquisition, and partner-buyout financings will sit under 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 Illinois charged off at 7.89 percent by count and 4.87 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 Illinois.
INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT
Illinois SBA lending is built on movement: general freight trucking is the state's number one SBA category over the past decade, a direct product of Chicagoland's position as the continent's rail and intermodal crossroads, and the documented evidence follows, from Moovers Chicago's two-loan 504 sequence to a freight borrower base that made trucking, not restaurants, the state's signature class. The corridor extends to the curb: Illinois ranks among the top five states by car wash count, where road salt, snow, and winter grime create the year-round demand cycle that monthly membership models monetize.
The contrarian stat sits in storage: Illinois holds roughly 1,558 self-storage facilities and 55.6 million square feet, just 4.35 square feet per resident against a 5.4 national average, while Midwest stabilized occupancy of 77.9 percent in late 2025 posted the strongest regional gain in the country. Illinois is comparatively under-stored, the rare major market where the supply analysis in a credible self-storage study can support new development rather than warn against it, and that asymmetry is exactly what independent feasibility work exists to document.
$9.24B
Illinois 7(a) dollars, past decade
229,617
Jobs supported
4.35 sq ft
Self-storage per resident
77.9%
Midwest storage occupancy, Q4 2025
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 all of Illinois through the Chicago district office, led by District Director Willette LeGrant, with a branch office in Springfield covering downstate, supported by the Illinois Small Business Development Center network.
SBA lending has no geographic eligibility test, so Illinois feasibility work follows the freight map: the five-county Chicagoland core of Cook, DuPage, Lake, Will, and Kane carries the deepest volume, organized around intermodal and distribution corridors, while downstate markets run on manufacturing, agriculture-adjacent business, and county-seat retail. Midwest climate shapes the demand models: winter conditions drive car wash cycles, and seasonal transitions drive storage.
Byline Bank dominates Illinois 7(a) lending, named the state's 7(a) Lender of the Year for sixteen consecutive years, with $119.6 million of in-state 7(a) volume supporting 742 jobs in fiscal 2024, the state's 504 Third-Party Lender of the Year title at $47.5 million, and roughly $501 million in national volume across 461 loans in calendar 2025. Wintrust, through Wintrust SBA Lending, and Northbrook-based CenTrust Bank add in-state depth, with the national leaders Live Oak, Huntington, and Newtek active statewide. Borrowers should weigh the oversight climate squarely: in May 2026 USDA revoked Byline, Celtic Bank, and ReadyCap, among ten lenders, from its own guaranteed programs, and a June 2026 Senate letter asked the SBA to review their records; Byline has stated publicly that its USDA involvement was limited in recent years, that it maintains strong internal controls and compliance practices, and that it is engaging with agency leadership, and no SBA action has been announced against any of them. The practical step is simply to confirm any lender's current preferred status and recent program activity before committing a deal to it.
SomerCor, the 2025 CDC of the Year, has deployed more than $1.84 billion to 2,816 businesses supporting 22,076 jobs since 1992, posting its fifth consecutive year above $100 million in 2025 with 121 loans approved and over $245 million in total project investment. Growth Corp describes itself as the largest 504 lender in Illinois and a top-ten national CDC, with Wessex 504 adding further capacity. 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. Illinois stacking: Advantage Illinois and the state's SSBCI programs through the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity provide participation loans, guarantees, and collateral support, and C-PACE is available statewide, including the large Cook County and Chicago programs, for energy components.
Lenders and Certified Development Companies in Illinois 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 Illinois 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 Illinois study. Lenders and CDCs can start at for lenders or the CDC compliance guide.
About the firm and the analyst signing Illinois 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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