SBA Feasibility Study Consultant in Mississippi

SBA Lending Activity in Mississippi

Mississippi is a small, 7(a)-heavy SBA market. The figures below are our computation of SBA's loan-level FOIA data for projects located in Mississippi, data as of June 30, 2026.

• From federal FY2024 to FY2025, 7(a) loan count fell by 11 while dollars rose about 16%, lifting the average 7(a) loan from about $464,000 to about $554,000.
• SMB Statistics independently reports FY2025 Mississippi 7(a) + 504 approvals of $206.7 million across 355 loans supporting 3,562 jobs (SBA files as of April 28, 2026), matching our totals.
• Mississippi recorded 133 approved 504 loans ($177.5 million) from October 2009 through June 2026, ranking 49th of 51 jurisdictions by 504 count. Of those, 79 loans ($94.5 million) were disbursed.
• Nationally, SBA reported a record federal FY2025 of 84,400 loans for $44.8 billion (SBA press release, September 30, 2025).
• A decade-cumulative total of 3,638 loans and about $1.62 billion circulates for Mississippi. It spans many years and is not an annual figure.

Top 7(a) Lenders in Mississippi, Federal FY2025 (by loan count)

Mississippi-headquartered community banks write many small loans. National SBA specialists write fewer, larger files; Live Oak averaged about $1.39 million per Mississippi loan in FY2025, so it is a likely lender for hotels and larger owner-occupied real estate.

504 Certified Development Companies, Federal FY2025

Three Rivers Local Development Company closed 6 of Mississippi's 8 FY2025 504 loans ($12,232,000). Central Mississippi Development Company closed 1 ($1,318,000) and JEDCO Development Corporation closed 1 ($861,000).

Industries and Counties With the Most SBA Activity, Federal FY2025 (source: SMB Statistics, updated July 1, 2026)

Mississippi 7(a) Loans by Asset Class, October 2009–June 2026

Charge-Off Benchmarks (our SBA FOIA computations)

• Hotels: 3.3% charge-off rate on 90 resolved Mississippi 7(a) loans approved October 2009–June 2026.
• Gas stations and fitness centers: 9.2% on resolved loans in the same window.
• All Mississippi 7(a) loans: 8.6% across 4,340 resolved loans approved October 2009–June 2026, and 6.9% across 539 resolved loans approved October 2019–June 2026. The two windows measure different loan cohorts.

Mississippi Regional Markets

Population figures are July 1, 2025 Census Vintage 2025 county estimates (via FRED); changes since 2020 are from Census Vintage 2025 county estimates.

Jackson Metro (Hinds, Madison, Rankin)

Hinds 211,888 (−830 in 2024–25; about −7.0% since 2020); Madison 116,298 (+1.2% in 2024–25; about +6.6% since 2020); Rankin 162,181 (+0.8%; about +3.3% since 2020). Drivers: AWS ($23B of the $25B statewide is in Madison and Hinds counties), Nissan Canton. Jackson hotels: occupancy rose 12% from June 2025 to May 2026 with 408,000+ room nights and $57 million in revenue (Visit Jackson, Oct 26, 2026). Opportunities: suburban Madison and Rankin hotels, contractor services, childcare, healthcare, franchise restaurants. In the City of Jackson, underwrite population loss and water-system risk (see Risks).

Gulf Coast (Gulfport–Biloxi, Pascagoula)

Gulfport-Biloxi MSA 431,329 (+3.6% since 2020); Harrison 217,136 (+1.2% in 2024–25); Jackson County 147,666; Hancock 46,873; Stone 19,654. Drivers: Ingalls (more than 11,000 employees), casinos ($1.59B of 2025 state gaming revenue), tourism. Opportunities: hospitality, restaurants, RV parks, defense subcontracting, workforce housing, trades. Insurance is the key cost risk.

DeSoto County / Southaven

197,918 (+0.5% in 2024–25); 3.2% unemployment (Sept 2026, MDES); DeSoto led FY2025 SBA dollars ($35.0M). Drivers: Memphis-area logistics, suburban retail and housing. DeSoto industrial: Q3 2025 weighted net asking rents of $4.16/SF warehouse-distribution and $4.35/SF manufacturing, 11.1% vacancy on 74.1M SF (Cushman & Wakefield/Commercial Advisors MarketBeat Q3 2025). Opportunities: trucking and warehousing services, franchises, childcare, car washes, self-storage.

Hattiesburg / Pine Belt

Hattiesburg MSA 158,014 (+2.7% since 2020); Forrest 79,034; Lamar 67,403 (+0.7% in 2024–25). Hattiesburg MSA unemployment 3.0% (Sept 2026); Jones County 2.5%. Opportunities: medical and dental practices, senior care, restaurants, student services.

Tupelo and Northeast Mississippi

Lee 83,731 (+0.5% in 2024–25); Prentiss 25,284; Itawamba 24,152. Toyota Blue Springs (Corolla) employs 2,250 with about 1,700 more at suppliers ($1.2B invested; Clarion Ledger, 2023). Opportunities: manufacturing suppliers, machine shops, trucking, franchise food on U.S. 45 and I-22.

Golden Triangle (Columbus, Starkville, West Point)

Lowndes 57,346 (+0.2%); Oktibbeha 51,896 (+0.3%) in 2024–25. Drivers: Steel Dynamics and Aluminum Dynamics (650,000 metric tons/year flat-rolled capacity). Opportunities: industrial maintenance and fabrication, trucking, hotels for industrial travel, student housing in Starkville.

Oxford

Lafayette County 59,597 (−0.8% in 2024–25); Oxford μSA 71,972 (+5.4% since 2020); Lafayette had the state's lowest unemployment, 2.4%, in Sept 2026. Drivers: University of Mississippi, retirees, football and event tourism. Demand is seasonal and tied to the academic calendar.

Mississippi Delta (Greenville, Clarksdale, Tunica)

Washington County 40,446 (−1.9% in one year, about −10% since 2020); Coahoma 19,849 (−1.0%; about −7.2% since 2020); Tunica 8,819 (−3.2% in one year). The Northern gaming region fell 1.88% to $522M in 2025. Opportunities are need-based (healthcare, pharmacy, essential retail, fuel); underwrite to existing cash flow, not growth.

Meridian

Lauderdale 70,317 (−0.3% in 2024–25); Meridian μSA 85,419 (−3.6% since 2020). Compass Datacenters' eight-building, eight-year build supports hotels, extended stay, RV parks, food service and trades during construction; the underlying population is still declining.

Mississippi Costs, Taxes and Regulations in a Feasibility Study

• The state sales tax is 7%. Jackson adds 1% on certain sales and Tupelo adds 0.25%; many cities and counties add tourism taxes on hotels and restaurants (MDOR, November 2026). Southaven hotel stays carry 10% total: 7% state, 2% DeSoto County tourism and 1% Southaven (MDOR notice 72-26-03). Groceries are taxed at 5% since July 1, 2025.
• A 3.5% contractor's tax applies to non-residential construction contracts over $10,000 (MDOR).
• Gasoline is exempt from sales tax. HB 1 (2025) set the state gasoline excise tax at 24¢ per gallon from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027 and 27¢ from July 1, 2027, with possible adjustments of up to 1¢ every other year from July 1, 2029 (MDOR).
• Individual income tax: 0% on the first $10,000 and 4.0% above it in 2026. HB 1 sets 3.75% for 2027, 3.5% for 2028, 3.25% for 2029 and 3.0% for 2030, with further cuts after 2030 only if revenue triggers are met.
• Corporate income tax: 0% on the first $5,000, 4% on the next $5,000 and 5% above $10,000 (MDOR). Franchise tax: $0.50 per $1,000 of capital over $100,000 for tax years beginning in 2026 and $0.25 for 2027, $25 minimum (MDOR).
• Commercial real property and business personal property are assessed at 15% of true value; tax = true value × 15% × millage ÷ 1,000 (Harrison County Tax Assessor). Example: Jones County's 2025 millage of 126.57 mills puts about $18,986 of annual tax on a $1 million commercial property.
• Mississippi has no state minimum wage law, so the federal $7.25 per hour applies.
• Business registration: An LLC Certificate of Formation costs $50 and the domestic LLC annual report has no fee; a foreign LLC registration costs $250 (Mississippi Secretary of State fee schedule).
• Wages: Mean hourly wage was $25.86 in the Jackson MSA and $25.13 in Gulfport-Biloxi versus $32.66 nationally (BLS OEWS, May 2024). Nissan Canton production technicians start at $23.95 per hour (job listing, October 2026), which sets a wage floor small employers compete against.
• Construction costs: A 15-story hotel model averaged $261.76/SF nationally in 2025 (Gordian RSMeans via Building Design+Construction, April 2025). RSMeans location factors for Jackson declined in each of Q1–Q3 2025 (−2.63%, −0.46% and −1.03%). Ground-up industrial averaged $144/SF small, $87/SF medium and $78/SF large in Cushman & Wakefield's 2026 Industrial Construction Cost Guide.
• Office lease rate: Jackson office asking rents averaged $19.65/SF with 23.48% vacancy (CommercialCafe/Yardi, 2025).

Regulation

• Certificate of Need: A permanent moratorium in place since 1990 bars Certificates of Need for new or expanded skilled and intermediate nursing beds except as statute authorizes, and new or replacement nursing homes must have at least 60 beds (15 Miss. Admin. Code Pt. 8, R. 204.01). Personal care and assisted living facilities are not subject to CON review. Existing nursing-home licenses and beds are scarce, so most deals are acquisitions.
• Child care: A license from the Mississippi State Department of Health is required to care for six or more unrelated children under 13 for any part of the day (MDHS, November 2026). MSDH's Child Care Facilities Licensure office issues licenses.
• Alcohol: MDOR's Alcoholic Beverage Control issues liquor and wine permits; beer permits are local. Wet or dry status varies by county and municipality, and wholesale liquor is a state monopoly. Our studies confirm the permit path for the specific site.
• Gaming: 25 commercial casinos operate along the Mississippi River and Gulf Coast, regulated by the Mississippi Gaming Commission, plus Choctaw tribal casinos (American Gaming Association, 2026). Casinos are allowed only in counties bordering the River or Gulf that approved gaming by local vote.
• Fuel and USTs: MDEQ requires 30 days' notice before tank installation, an MDEQ-certified installer, and $150 per tank per year; tanks installed after September 30, 2008 must be double-walled. Lenders require a Phase I ESA.
• Contractor licensing: A Mississippi State Board of Contractors license is required for commercial projects over $50,000.
• Flood: SBA requires flood insurance on collateral in FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas, which cover much of the six coastal counties and the Mississippi River and Delta lowlands. Under NFIP Risk Rating 2.0, most existing policies cannot rise more than 18% per year.

Programs That Pair With SBA Financing

• SSBCI: Mississippi's SSBCI allocation is about $86.1 million across four programs, administered by the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) and Innovate Mississippi: the Mississippi Small Business Loan Guarantee Program ($15.1M, guarantees up to 80%), the Mississippi CDFI Small Business Loan Fund ($45.0M, lending through Culleywood Capital, Renaissance Community Loan Fund and Hope Enterprise Corporation), the Mississippi Venture Capital Program ($15.0M) and the Mississippi Direct Investment Program ($11.0M). SSBCI support is used for companion credit alongside an SBA loan, not on the SBA-guaranteed portion. Treasury also awarded MDA $4.8M under the SSBCI Small Business Opportunity Program, and the Mississippi SBDC provides SSBCI technical assistance.
• MDA Minority Business Micro Loan Program: loans up to $35,000 for up to 7 years at 4% above the Federal Reserve discount rate, for MDA-certified minority- and women-owned businesses.
• MDA Advantage Jobs: rebates 90% of state income tax withheld on new jobs for up to 10 years (capped at 4% of new payroll); requires 25 new full-time jobs at 110% of the lesser of state or county average wage; retail and gaming are excluded.
• MDA Tourism Rebate Program (described in Hotels).
• USDA Rural Development Mississippi State Office: 100 W. Capitol St., Suite 831, Jackson; 601-965-4316; area offices in Decatur, Grenada and Hattiesburg.
• Delta Regional Authority: SEDAP invested more than $5.7M in 14 Mississippi projects (December 8, 2025). The 2026 round offered more than $16M in awards of $50,000–$500,000, with a July 31, 2026 application deadline. DRA funds mostly public infrastructure and workforce projects that support a private borrower.
• Appalachian Regional Commission: covers 24 northeast Mississippi counties (Alcorn, Benton, Calhoun, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Clay, Itawamba, Kemper, Lee, Lowndes, Marshall, Monroe, Montgomery, Noxubee, Oktibbeha, Panola, Pontotoc, Prentiss, Tippah, Tishomingo, Union, Webster, Winston, Yalobusha). For FY2027 (effective October 1, 2026): 7 distressed (Chickasaw, Kemper, Montgomery, Noxubee, Panola, Winston, Yalobusha), 9 at-risk, 8 transitional.

How Our Mississippi Feasibility Studies Work

• Built on micro-market data: county and drive-time demographics, MDES labor data, and insurance and tax costs for the exact site.
• Data-center and plant demand modeled as a construction cycle, with a post-construction stress test.
• Coastal deals carry wind, flood and property premiums as separate, rising expense lines.
• Every study states SOP 50 10 8.1 applicability, FY2027 fee treatment, and rural or manufacturer status.

From $4,900. Standard delivery 10–15 business days; hotels 12–20 business days. Written fixed-fee proposal within one business day.