STATE GUIDE
Independent third-party feasibility studies for SBA 7(a) and SBA 504 projects across Washington, prepared to SOP 50 10 8 standards for lenders, CDCs, and SBA review.
#12
National rank, weekly SBA proceeds
$1.07B
Washington 7(a) dollars, calendar 2025
1,987
7(a) loans, calendar 2025
$539K
Average Washington 7(a) loan, calendar 2025
121
Active SBA lenders in the state
$98.8M
Seattle SBA lending, calendar 2025
1,050+
Licensed Washington wineries
$10M
Combined 7(a) and 504 cap from July 4, 2026
Washington ranked twelfth in the country in weekly SBA loan proceeds per the SBA's own late 2025 analysis, roughly $24.1 million per week, and closed calendar 2025 with $1.07 billion in 7(a) lending across 1,987 loans at a $539,000 average, 1.1 times the national figure, through 121 active lenders at a 10.18 percent average rate. Seattle led the state at $98.8 million across 213 loans, with Tacoma adding $47.2 million across 96 and the Kent, Renton, and Federal Way corridor filling the south Sound table.
The lender table is unlike any other state in this build: ReadyCap leads Washington outright at $88 million across 74 calendar 2025 loans, ahead of Live Oak at $84.7 million and U.S. Bank at $69.4 million, while Columbia Bank wrote the most loans at 239 and Enterprise Bank and Trust carried the lowest rate in the table at 7.08 percent. Seattle-based Evergreen Business Capital anchors the 504 field after four decades across Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and northern Idaho, financing up to 90 percent of qualifying projects, and its community finance arm administers the state's collateral support 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 Washington through the Seattle district office with a branch in Spokane, supported by a statewide SBDC network.
Washington saw 23,326 SBA-disbursed 7(a) and 504 loans across all industries between FY2010 and FY2026, worth $12.63 billion at an average ticket of $541,000. 7(a) carried 90.9% of the loan count; 504 covered the balance. 3,957 approvals have landed since FY2024.
Among the 16,809 seasoned loans in Washington (approvals FY2010–FY2021), 4.9% 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 restaurant, manufacturing, and gas station and c-store.
| Asset class | Loans FY2010–FY2026 | Approved volume | Average loan | Seasoned adverse rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Restaurant | 2,781 | $1.08 billion | $388,000 | 5.2% |
| Manufacturing | 1,420 | $893.3 million | $629,000 | 5.1% |
| Gas station and c-store | 1,125 | $1.56 billion | $1.4 million | 2.2% |
| Trucking and logistics | 718 | $268.8 million | $374,000 | 4.3% |
| Medical or dental practice | 696 | $456.7 million | $656,000 | 3.6% |
| Hotel | 644 | $1.40 billion | $2.2 million | 1.7% |
| Fitness center | 375 | $191.4 million | $510,000 | 5.9% |
| Assisted living | 264 | $232.0 million | $879,000 | 0.0% |
| Brewery, distillery, or winery | 255 | $106.0 million | $416,000 | 5.4% |
| Childcare center | 237 | $242.4 million | $1.0 million | 2.5% |
| Veterinary clinic | 153 | $147.1 million | $961,000 | 3.1% |
| Event venue | 148 | $43.3 million | $293,000 | – |
| Self-storage | 85 | $124.5 million | $1.5 million | 0.0% |
| Car wash | 81 | $73.5 million | $907,000 | 0.0% |
| Liquor store | 44 | $16.0 million | $364,000 | 0.0% |
| Laundromat | 25 | $16.5 million | $661,000 | – |
| RV park | 18 | $21.4 million | $1.2 million | – |
| Marina or boat storage | 9 | $5.6 million | $618,000 | – |
– 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.
Washington's SBA book — 23,326 disbursed loans representing $12.63 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 Washington charged off at 4.19 percent by count and 1.79 percent by dollar, against national baselines of 6.44 and 2.92 percent. See the full 50-state analysis.
INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT
Washington's signature classes run on water and vines. The state wine commission counts roughly 1,050 to 1,070 licensed wineries on more than 35,000 acres of wine grapes and calls Washington the second-largest wine producing state in the country, a production economy stretching from Walla Walla and the Columbia Valley to Woodinville's tasting room cluster, where winery and tasting room projections combine agricultural inventory cycles with retail seasonality, exactly the projection-heavy profile lenders send to independent study. On the salt water, Puget Sound carries more than 100 marinas, anchored by the Port of Seattle's Shilshole Bay Marina with over 1,400 monthly and liveaboard moorage customers, one of the largest boating communities on the West Coast, which makes marina and boat storage a structurally deep special-purpose class.
The capital stack carries its own signature: the state's number one 7(a) lender by dollars is ReadyCap, one of the ten lenders USDA revoked from its own guaranteed programs in May 2026, which makes lender diligence a live part of every Washington deal narrative, and the state's SSBCI collateral support program, administered by Evergreen Business Capital Community Finance, places certificate of deposit collateral covering up to 40 percent of an interim 504 loan, wiring the state stack directly into the exact structure special-purpose projects use.
1,050+
Licensed Washington wineries
#2
Washington's national wine production rank
100+
Puget Sound marinas
1,400+
Shilshole Bay moorage customers
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 Washington through the Seattle district office with a branch in Spokane. Seattle-based Evergreen Business Capital anchors the CDC field after 42 years serving Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and northern Idaho, financing up to 90 percent of qualifying projects, and its community finance arm under chief executive Patti Kibbe administers the state's SSBCI collateral support program; the SBDC network operates statewide.
SBA lending has no geographic eligibility test, so Washington feasibility work follows the Sound and the river: the Puget Sound metro from Seattle through Tacoma, Everett, and Bellevue carries the overwhelming share of volume, with Seattle at $98.8 million across 213 calendar 2025 loans and Tacoma at $47.2 million across 96; Spokane anchors the east; the Columbia Valley and Walla Walla carry the wine production economy; and the coastal and Olympic Peninsula corridors run on tourism seasonality. The I-5 and I-90 corridors plus the Seattle-Tacoma port complex tie the freight economy together, and aerospace remains the anchor manufacturing cluster.
Washington's table leads with ReadyCap at $88 million across 74 calendar 2025 loans, ahead of Live Oak at $84.7 million at the state's second-lowest major-lender rate and U.S. Bank at $69.4 million across 167 loans, with a deep state-headquartered bench behind them: Heritage Bank, Washington Trust Bank, Everett-based Mountain Pacific Bank, Banner Bank, and Columbia Bank, which wrote the most loans in the state at 239, while Enterprise Bank and Trust carried the table's lowest rate at 7.08 percent. The oversight climate is more prominent here than anywhere else in this build: ReadyCap and tenth-ranked Celtic Bank 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 the revoked lenders' records; no SBA action has been announced against either, and the practical step is to confirm any lender's current preferred status and recent program activity before committing a deal to it.
Evergreen Business Capital, headquartered in Seattle, anchors the Pacific Northwest 504 field after 42 years across Washington, Oregon, Alaska, and northern Idaho, partnering with banks to finance up to 90 percent of qualifying projects, and its community finance arm administers Washington's SSBCI collateral support program alongside its lending. The Northwest Business Development Association adds 504 capacity across the state. 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. Washington stacking: the state's SSBCI suite through the Department of Commerce includes a collateral support program administered by Evergreen Business Capital Community Finance that places certificate of deposit collateral covering up to 40 percent of an interim 504 loan to close collateral gaps, plus the Small Business Flex Fund for smaller working capital needs, and C-PACER is available for energy components.
Lenders and Certified Development Companies in Washington 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 Washington 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 Washington study. Lenders and CDCs can start at for lenders or the CDC compliance guide.
About the firm and the analyst signing Washington 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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