STATE GUIDE
Independent third-party feasibility studies for SBA 7(a) and SBA 504 projects across Minnesota, prepared to SOP 50 10 8 standards for lenders, CDCs, and SBA review.
$686.8M
Minnesota 7(a) dollars, calendar 2025
1,584
7(a) loans, calendar 2025
-0.63%
Average rate vs national, calendar 2025
18,053
Jobs supported, calendar 2025
141
Active SBA lenders in the state
143.6
Boats per 1,000 residents, #1 in the nation
$6.9B
Recreational boating economic impact
$10M
Combined 7(a) and 504 cap from July 4, 2026
Minnesota closed calendar 2025 with $686.8 million in 7(a) lending across 1,584 loans at a $434,000 average, supporting 18,053 jobs through 141 active lenders, and it did so at the cheapest money in this entire build: a 9.69 percent average rate, 0.63 points below the national figure. Minneapolis led the state at $125.4 million across 290 loans with Saint Paul adding $58.1 million, and the demand profile skews to care and food: home health led by dollars at $25.2 million, childcare drew $22 million across just 23 loans, and full-service restaurants led by count at 64.
Minneapolis-headquartered U.S. Bank leads its home state at $67.9 million across 257 calendar 2025 loans, ahead of Old National at the table's lowest major-lender rate and Huntington at 167 loans, and the CDC field runs deep: St. Cloud-based Minnesota Business Finance Corporation, the district's award-winning CDC for a decade running, Amplio, formerly Twin Cities-Metro CDC with more than 28,000 jobs created or retained across its history, and SPEDCO in St. Paul, an SBA agent since 1981. The named record includes Waldmann Brewery's St. Paul project and the Ship Shape Car Wash financing under MBFC's veteran rebate program.
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 all 87 Minnesota counties through the Minneapolis district office, supported by a statewide SBDC network.
Minnesota saw 26,419 SBA-disbursed 7(a) and 504 loans across all industries between FY2010 and FY2026, worth $10.59 billion at an average ticket of $401,000. 7(a) carried 85.2% of the loan count; 504 covered the balance. 3,193 approvals have landed since FY2024.
Among the 20,005 seasoned loans in Minnesota (approvals FY2010–FY2021), 5.0% reached adverse resolution — purchased, liquidated, or charged off — compared with 7.3% nationally. That performance runs below the national all-industry benchmark, a credit-positive signal. The state's most active SBA asset classes by loan count are manufacturing, restaurant, and trucking and logistics.
| Asset class | Loans FY2010–FY2026 | Approved volume | Average loan | Seasoned adverse rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 2,891 | $1.73 billion | $597,000 | 5.0% |
| Restaurant | 2,213 | $816.6 million | $369,000 | 7.5% |
| Trucking and logistics | 783 | $230.0 million | $294,000 | 5.6% |
| Fitness center | 491 | $161.9 million | $330,000 | 5.9% |
| Medical or dental practice | 429 | $223.8 million | $522,000 | 1.1% |
| Gas station and c-store | 330 | $159.9 million | $485,000 | 10.6% |
| Hotel | 321 | $323.6 million | $1.0 million | 2.7% |
| Childcare center | 316 | $219.4 million | $694,000 | 2.5% |
| Liquor store | 275 | $129.8 million | $472,000 | 8.5% |
| Brewery, distillery, or winery | 265 | $112.3 million | $424,000 | 6.9% |
| Event venue | 197 | $57.3 million | $291,000 | – |
| Assisted living | 165 | $156.9 million | $951,000 | 0.8% |
| Veterinary clinic | 116 | $64.8 million | $559,000 | 0.0% |
| Laundromat | 94 | $38.4 million | $408,000 | 5.4% |
| RV park | 87 | $47.7 million | $548,000 | 1.9% |
| Car wash | 73 | $56.0 million | $767,000 | 0.0% |
| Self-storage | 69 | $46.9 million | $680,000 | 6.0% |
| Marina or boat storage | 12 | $3.9 million | $326,000 | – |
– 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.
Minnesota's SBA book — 26,419 disbursed loans representing $10.59 billion in approved capital — is deep enough that borrowers and lenders can compare a proposed deal against genuine local activity, which is precisely what a lender-grade feasibility study relies on. For program fit, cash-flow-driven deals usually run through 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 Minnesota charged off at 4.79 percent by count and 2.93 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 Minnesota.
INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT
Minnesota owns the water. The state leads the nation in boats per capita at 143.6 per 1,000 residents as of 2022, with more than 613,000 registered motorized boats, fourth in absolute count, and 822,450 total watercraft, and per the NMMA's 2023 economic impact study the recreational boating industry generates $6.9 billion annually across more than 700 businesses and 25,887 jobs, tenth in the nation. From the Brainerd Lakes chains to Lake Minnetonka, that fleet needs slips, service, and above all winter storage, which makes marina and boat storage one of the structurally deepest special-purpose classes in the state, where indoor heated storage carries the model through five frozen months.
The capital side is just as distinctive: Minnesota borrows cheaper than any state in this build, a 9.69 percent calendar 2025 average running 0.63 points below the national rate, through a lender field with a genuinely local character, U.S. Bank at home in Minneapolis, community banks like Platinum, Falcon National, and BankVista writing real volume, and not a single lender from the May 2026 USDA revocation list in the state's top fifteen. Cheap, local, clean money against a deep special-purpose demand base: the analytical work sits in proving each project's seasonal curve, and that is exactly what an independent study is for.
143.6
Boats per 1,000 residents, #1 nationally
613,000+
Registered motorized boats
700+
Boating businesses statewide
-0.63%
Average rate vs national
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 87 Minnesota counties through the Minneapolis district office. St. Cloud-based Minnesota Business Finance Corporation, the Minnesota district's award-winning CDC for a decade running and now serving Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and parts of Iowa and South Dakota after its 2022 Prairieland merger, anchors the 504 field alongside Amplio, formerly Twin Cities-Metro CDC, founded 1990 with more than 28,000 jobs created or retained, SPEDCO in St. Paul, an SBA agent since 1981, and Central Minnesota Development Company, supported by a statewide SBDC network.
SBA lending has no geographic eligibility test, so Minnesota feasibility work follows the water and the metro: the Twin Cities carry the volume, Minneapolis at $125.4 million across 290 calendar 2025 loans and Saint Paul at $58.1 million, with the suburban ring from Burnsville through Maple Grove and Eden Prairie filling the table; Rochester anchors the healthcare economy around Mayo at $20.5 million across just 17 loans, the largest average tickets in the state; the Brainerd Lakes and Lake Minnetonka corridors carry the resort and marina economy; and Duluth holds the port. The I-94 and I-35 corridors tie the freight economy together.
U.S. Bank leads its home state at $67.9 million across 257 calendar 2025 loans, followed by Old National at $56.7 million on the table's lowest major-lender rate at 8.5 percent and Huntington at 167 loans, with a distinctly local bench behind them: Platinum Bank, Falcon National, First Resource, Frandsen, BankVista, Minnwest, and St. Paul's Drake Bank all writing real volume alongside Northeast Bank's 100 loans. Minnesota is also the cleanest lender table in this build on the oversight dimension: none of the lenders USDA revoked from its own guaranteed programs in May 2026 appears in the state's top fifteen, though the standard diligence step of confirming any lender's current preferred status and recent program activity still applies.
Minnesota Business Finance Corporation, headquartered in St. Cloud under chief executive Nadene Kruize, has been the Minnesota district's award-winning CDC for a decade running and serves five states following its 2022 Prairieland merger. Amplio, formerly Twin Cities-Metro CDC and founded in 1990, ranks among the country's larger CDCs with more than 28,000 jobs created or retained across its history, and SPEDCO in St. Paul has carried SBA agency since 1981, with Central Minnesota Development Company rounding out the field. 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 under Policy Notice 5000-879058, with sequencing that matters: a 7(a) balance no longer reduces 504 capacity, but 504 balances still count against 7(a) room. Minnesota stacking: the state's SSBCI suite through DEED runs a Small Business Loan Participation Program and an Automation Loan Participation Program aimed at equipment modernization, the Minnesota Investment Fund adds development capital, and MN PACE allows up to 100 percent financing of qualifying energy components repaid through special assessment, relevant to hotel, manufacturing, and cold storage projects.
Lenders and Certified Development Companies in Minnesota 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 Minnesota 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 Minnesota study. Lenders and CDCs can start at for lenders or the CDC compliance guide.
About the firm and the analyst signing Minnesota 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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