STATE GUIDE
Independent third-party feasibility studies for SBA 7(a) and SBA 504 projects across Ohio, prepared to SOP 50 10 8 standards for lenders, CDCs, and SBA review.
#8
National rank, SBA dollar volume
$1.12B
Ohio 7(a) dollars, calendar 2025
2,909
Businesses financed, calendar 2025
2,309
Huntington loans in Ohio, trailing year
$3.18M
Average Ohio hotel SBA loan
$19.5B
Ohio-headquartered lenders' 7(a) nationwide since 2020
10+
Growth Capital Corp years as Ohio's #1 504 lender
$10M
Combined 7(a) and 504 cap from July 4, 2026
Ohio is the eighth-largest SBA market in the country, with roughly $26.3 million in weekly loan proceeds and 67 loans per week per the SBA's own late 2025 analysis, the highest count in its tier. Calendar 2025 brought $1.12 billion in 7(a) lending to 2,909 businesses at an average near $386,000 across 135 active lenders, and the leading category is freight: long-distance truckload trucking tops Ohio's SBA volume, ahead of remodelers and restaurants.
The named program record runs through Ohio Statewide Development Corporation: the Quality Inn partner buyout in Streetsboro financed with LendingClub Bank in 2026, Stauffer Family Dental's Westerville real estate with PNC, Modo Yoga Columbus, the state's first Green Energy 504 at veteran-owned Buckeye Metal Finishing in Dayton, and Northstar Café's Westerville project pairing the 504 with an Ohio 166 Regional Loan. Cleveland's Growth Capital Corp has deployed more than $650 million since 1982 as the state's top 504 lender for over a decade.
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 Ohio through two districts: Columbus, covering the southern 60 counties under District Director Everett M. Woodel Jr. with offices in Columbus, Cincinnati, and Dayton, and Cleveland, covering the northern 28 counties.
From FY2010 through FY2026, SBA activity in Ohio totalled 46,555 disbursed 7(a) and 504 loans across all industries, representing $13.56 billion in approved capital at an average loan size of $291,000. 94.7% ran under 7(a), with 504 taking the rest, and 6,454 loans have been approved since FY2024.
Among the 33,539 seasoned loans in Ohio (approvals FY2010–FY2021), 6.6% 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 trucking and logistics, restaurant, and manufacturing.
| Asset class | Loans FY2010–FY2026 | Approved volume | Average loan | Seasoned adverse rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trucking and logistics | 5,107 | $575.2 million | $113,000 | 5.1% |
| Restaurant | 3,970 | $1.05 billion | $265,000 | 9.7% |
| Manufacturing | 3,541 | $1.74 billion | $491,000 | 6.4% |
| Medical or dental practice | 913 | $486.7 million | $533,000 | 4.3% |
| Childcare center | 632 | $315.0 million | $498,000 | 6.3% |
| Hotel | 616 | $1.28 billion | $2.1 million | 4.8% |
| Fitness center | 610 | $182.6 million | $299,000 | 9.6% |
| Gas station and c-store | 551 | $178.0 million | $323,000 | 6.3% |
| Event venue | 289 | $53.8 million | $186,000 | – |
| Brewery, distillery, or winery | 281 | $131.8 million | $469,000 | 5.8% |
| Veterinary clinic | 249 | $138.0 million | $554,000 | 3.9% |
| Car wash | 218 | $155.6 million | $714,000 | 4.1% |
| Liquor store | 212 | $49.0 million | $231,000 | 5.6% |
| Self-storage | 101 | $116.9 million | $1.2 million | 1.4% |
| Laundromat | 95 | $29.8 million | $314,000 | 2.9% |
| Assisted living | 29 | $33.9 million | $1.2 million | – |
| RV park | 12 | $6.4 million | $534,000 | – |
| Marina or boat storage | 8 | $3.9 million | $481,000 | – |
– 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.
With 46,555 disbursed SBA loans and $13.56 billion in approved financing, Ohio 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 Ohio charged off at 5.65 percent by count and 3.18 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 Ohio.
INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT
Ohio is the headquarters of the high-volume SBA loan. Columbus-based Huntington National Bank held the number one national 7(a) position by loan count for seven consecutive years through fiscal 2024, and in calendar 2025 funded $1.86 billion across 6,071 loans at an average of $307,000. In its home state Huntington's 2,309 trailing-year loans at an average of $211,224 run roughly five times the next lender, and it leads 7(a) volume across nine states; collectively, Ohio-headquartered lenders have approved 74,109 loans for $19.5 billion nationwide since 2020.
The state's second speed is where feasibility work concentrates: while the typical Ohio ticket is small, the special-purpose tier is not, with hotels carrying the state's largest average SBA loan at $3,180,380 across 88 trailing-year loans and dental offices averaging $1,286,133. Ohio Statewide Development Corporation's named book spans both speeds, from the Streetsboro hotel partner buyout to the first Green Energy 504 closed in Ohio, and the Ohio 166 Regional Loan stacks directly onto 504 structures, as the Northstar Café financing demonstrated.
$1.86B
Huntington national 7(a), calendar 2025
6,071
Huntington loans, calendar 2025
2,309
Huntington loans in Ohio, trailing year
7
Years as #1 by national loan count through FY2024
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 Ohio through two district offices: Columbus, led by District Director Everett M. Woodel Jr. and covering the southern 60 counties with offices in Columbus, Cincinnati, and Dayton, and Cleveland, covering the northern 28 counties. Growth Capital Corp in Cleveland, Ohio Statewide Development Corporation in Columbus, Community Capital Development Corp, and Akron's Cascade Capital anchor the CDC field, supported by the Ohio SBDC network.
SBA lending has no geographic eligibility test, so Ohio feasibility work follows the Three-C structure: Columbus, the fastest-growing metro with the Intel buildout and the Rickenbacker logistics hub; Cleveland, anchored by healthcare and legacy manufacturing; and Cincinnati. The I-70 and I-75 crossroads make Ohio a national freight hinge, Lake Erie's north shore carries the marina and island tourism economy, and Akron, Dayton, Toledo, and Youngstown run on manufacturing and county-seat demand.
Huntington dominates Ohio with 2,309 trailing-year loans, roughly five times U.S. Bank's 456, followed by Cleveland-based KeyBank at 160 averaging $420,141, De Graff-based United Midwest Savings at 142 averaging $583,697, and Columbus-based Telhio Credit Union, with Cincinnati's Fifth Third also in the table and Live Oak posting the state's largest average loan at $1,407,201. The oversight climate applies here as elsewhere: ReadyCap, Ohio's sixth-ranked lender by count at 87 loans averaging $420,961, and Celtic Bank at fifteenth were among the ten lenders USDA revoked from its own guaranteed programs in May 2026, and a June 2026 Senate letter asked the SBA to review their records; no SBA action has been announced, and the practical step is to confirm any lender's current preferred status and recent program activity before committing a deal to it.
Growth Capital Corp in Cleveland has been Ohio's number one 504 lender for more than a decade, deploying over $650 million since 1982 and carrying more than 60 percent of the Cleveland district's 504 volume. Ohio Statewide Development Corporation funded $12.7 million in 2025 with $21.4 million in total project investment and 66 projected jobs, and administers the Ohio 166 Regional Loan and VetLoan Advantage alongside its 504 book. 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. Ohio stacking: the state's SSBCI suite through the Ohio Department of Development includes Capital Access and Loan Participation programs plus a Collateral Enhancement Program that under Treasury rules cannot support the SBA-guaranteed portion of a loan, making stack sequencing a structuring decision; the Ohio 166 Regional Loan pairs directly with 504 structures as the Northstar Café financing demonstrated; JobsOhio growth programs and widely available C-PACE round out the field.
Lenders and Certified Development Companies in Ohio 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 Ohio 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 Ohio study. Lenders and CDCs can start at for lenders or the CDC compliance guide.
About the firm and the analyst signing Ohio 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.
Book a Meeting