STATE GUIDE
Independent third-party feasibility studies for SBA 7(a) and SBA 504 projects across Wisconsin, prepared to SOP 50 10 8 standards for lenders, CDCs, and SBA review.
#20
National rank, weekly SBA proceeds
$525.7M
Wisconsin 7(a) dollars, calendar 2025
1,002
7(a) loans, calendar 2025
$525K
Average Wisconsin 7(a) loan, calendar 2025
149
Active SBA lenders in the state
3,500+
WBD businesses funded since 1981
76,000+
WBD jobs created since 1981
$10M
Combined 7(a) and 504 cap from July 4, 2026
Wisconsin closed calendar 2025 with $525.7 million in 7(a) lending across 1,002 loans at a $525,000 average through 149 active lenders, at a 9.63 percent average rate, below the national figure. Milwaukee led the published city tables at $46.7 million across 92 loans, with Madison adding 37 loans for $14 million, and the lender field carries a strong home-state character led by Old National at the table's lowest major-lender rate.
The named record runs through WBD Inc., one of the ten most active 504 CDCs in the country among roughly 250, with a portfolio over $1 billion that has funded more than 3,500 businesses and created over 76,000 jobs since 1981: Octopi Brewing in Waunakee, since sold to Asahi, Geneva Supply's Delavan logistics and manufacturing campus, Reader Precision Solutions, a Wisconsin Manufacturer of the Year, and Northwoods Dentistry. WBD operates from Madison with regional offices in Oshkosh, Waukesha, and Eau Claire.
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 Wisconsin through the Wisconsin district office in Milwaukee with a branch in Madison, supported by a statewide SBDC network.
Between FY2010 and FY2026, SBA lenders approved and disbursed 21,507 7(a) and 504 loans across all industries in Wisconsin, totaling $9.84 billion at an average of $457,000 per loan. 86.8% were 7(a) loans, the remainder 504. 2,284 loans have been approved since FY2024.
Among the 17,042 seasoned loans in Wisconsin (approvals FY2010–FY2021), 5.1% 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 | 2,757 | $1.86 billion | $676,000 | 4.6% |
| Restaurant | 1,969 | $786.5 million | $399,000 | 8.5% |
| Trucking and logistics | 772 | $304.0 million | $394,000 | 5.2% |
| Gas station and c-store | 482 | $383.2 million | $795,000 | 4.7% |
| Hotel | 406 | $553.1 million | $1.4 million | 2.0% |
| Medical or dental practice | 337 | $208.9 million | $620,000 | 2.1% |
| Childcare center | 329 | $162.8 million | $495,000 | 4.6% |
| Fitness center | 319 | $120.1 million | $377,000 | 7.8% |
| Brewery, distillery, or winery | 230 | $107.7 million | $468,000 | 9.8% |
| Self-storage | 202 | $145.3 million | $719,000 | 0.6% |
| Assisted living | 177 | $177.5 million | $1.0 million | 3.6% |
| Veterinary clinic | 174 | $105.0 million | $603,000 | 0.7% |
| Event venue | 130 | $38.2 million | $294,000 | – |
| Liquor store | 115 | $47.2 million | $410,000 | 6.7% |
| Car wash | 78 | $63.5 million | $814,000 | 3.4% |
| RV park | 65 | $56.4 million | $867,000 | 0.0% |
| Laundromat | 48 | $21.3 million | $443,000 | – |
| Marina or boat storage | 14 | $10.2 million | $725,000 | – |
– 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 21,507 disbursed SBA loans and $9.84 billion in approved financing, Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin charged off at 4.46 percent by count and 2.87 percent by dollar, against national baselines of 6.44 and 2.92 percent. See the full 50-state analysis.
INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT
Wisconsin's special-purpose demand runs on tourism and beer. Resort lodging concentrates in two of the Midwest's signature destinations, the Wisconsin Dells, where average daily rates climbed 52 percent from $108 to $164 between 2019 and 2021, and Door County, peninsula markets whose compressed summer seasons demand the month-by-month modeling a credible hotel study provides. On the beverage side the state pairs deep Milwaukee brewing heritage, Miller, Pabst, and Schlitz, with a modern craft sector of 266 breweries, 14th in the nation by count and 13th per capita, that contributes roughly 11,200 jobs and $1.48 billion in income, which puts brewery and taproom projections squarely in study territory.
The capital base is industrial and local. Manufacturing anchors the state economy, and WBD's named book, Geneva Supply, Reader Precision Solutions, and the long roster behind them, shows the 504 program financing it building by building, with manufacturing projects carrying fiscal 2026's strongest economics. Storage runs the other way: Milwaukee holds just 3.8 square feet of self-storage per resident, below the national benchmark and structurally undersupplied, which makes self-storage feasibility a supply-gap analysis from the first page.
$164
Wisconsin Dells ADR, 2021
266
Craft breweries, 14th by count
$1.48B
Craft beverage income contribution
3.8 sq ft
Milwaukee self-storage per resident
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 Wisconsin through the Wisconsin district office in Milwaukee with a branch in Madison. WBD Inc., one of the ten most active 504 CDCs in the country among roughly 250, anchors the field from its Madison headquarters at 5202 Eastpark Boulevard with regional offices in Oshkosh, Waukesha, and Eau Claire, and a portfolio over $1 billion that has funded more than 3,500 businesses across Wisconsin and Minnesota since 1981, with the Racine County Business Development Corporation and others adding capacity, supported by the statewide SBDC network across the Universities of Wisconsin.
SBA lending has no geographic eligibility test, so Wisconsin feasibility work follows the metro and the lake: Milwaukee carries the volume at $46.7 million across 92 calendar 2025 loans on an industrial machinery and manufacturing base; Madison anchors government and biotechnology; the Fox Valley and Green Bay run paper and manufacturing; the Wisconsin Dells and Door County carry resort hospitality on compressed seasonal curves; and the Northwoods and Lake Winnebago corridors carry the marina economy. The I-94 corridor from Milwaukee to Madison and the La Crosse home of Kwik Trip tie the freight and convenience economies together.
Old National Bank leads Wisconsin at $54.8 million across 40 calendar 2025 loans on the table's lowest major-lender rate near 8.02 percent, followed by U.S. Bank at 111 loans, the most in the state, and a deep home-state bench including Nicolet National Bank and Bank First at rates near 7.6 to 7.7 percent, Waukesha State Bank, Associated Bank, Citizens Community Federal, Lake Ridge Bank, and Peoples State Bank. The oversight climate applies: Byline Bank, third in the state at $25.6 million across 27 loans, and ReadyCap, fourteenth at $9.8 million across 29 loans and carrying the table's highest rate near 12.45 percent, 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.
WBD Inc., headquartered in Madison, ranks consistently among the ten most active 504 CDCs in the country out of roughly 250, with a portfolio over $1 billion that has funded more than 3,500 businesses and created over 76,000 jobs across Wisconsin and Minnesota since 1981, operating from regional offices in Oshkosh, Waukesha, Eau Claire, and Stillwater, Minnesota, with new president Jason Monnett leading day to day as of January 2026. The Racine County Business Development Corporation adds 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 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. Wisconsin stacking: the state's SSBCI allocation of roughly $80 million through the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, with more than $25 million earmarked for businesses owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals, includes a technical assistance center offering free legal and accounting advisory, WHEDA adds small business credit programs, and C-PACE is available statewide for energy components.
Lenders and Certified Development Companies in Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin study. Lenders and CDCs can start at for lenders or the CDC compliance guide.
About the firm and the analyst signing Wisconsin 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