SBA Loans in Tennessee: Who Got Funded, and by Whom

In fiscal year 2025, lenders approved 1,020 SBA 7(a) loans worth $546.9 million to businesses in Tennessee. Here is where that money went, which institutions approved it, and how big a loan a business like yours actually gets — straight from the SBA's own published records.

What a typical Tennessee SBA loan looks like

The median approval was $206,000, $39,150 above the national median of $166,850. That number matters more than the headline total: it is the size of deal lenders in this state are comfortable writing, and asking for something far outside it is the quiet reason many files stall.

35.7% of Tennessee approvals went to new businesses (startups or under two years old), against 29.8% nationally.

The lenders actually approving loans in Tennessee

Ranked by number of FY2025 approvals to Tennessee businesses. The single most active 7(a) lender in the state was Northeast Bank with 124 approvals at a median of $125,000 — which tells you exactly the size of deal it wants.

Lenders are listed because the SBA publishes them. Inclusion is not a recommendation, an endorsement, or a statement that any of them will approve your file — and Goldspur Capital is not affiliated with any lender named.

What Tennessee borrowers paid

The median initial rate recorded at approval was 10.25%, with most loans between 8.5% and 12.5%, and 87.4% written on a variable rate. Historic rates at approval across the year — not a quote, and not what you would be offered today.

What Tennessee businesses borrowed for

Where in Tennessee the money went

504 lenders in Tennessee — the Certified Development Companies

A 504 loan is not made by one lender. Roughly half comes from a bank, about 40% from a Certified Development Company — a nonprofit certified by the SBA to deliver the 504 debenture — and about 10% from you. Which means that in Tennessee, choosing a 504 lender is really choosing a CDC first, and the CDC then brings or accepts the bank.

Tennessee saw 26 504 approvals worth $46.6 million in FY2025, median $1,461,000. These are the CDCs that actually approved them, ranked by FY2025 volume:

Read the median column before you call anyone: a CDC writing a median $1,499,000 project is set up for that size of deal. A CDC does not have to be headquartered in Tennessee to lend here — many are certified across several states — and appearing above is not an endorsement or any indication it would approve your project. How the structure, the fixed rate and the eligible-use rules work is set out on our 504 rates and terms page, and the 7(a) or 504 comparison covers which one fits a building.

Four years of Tennessee approvals

What this means if you are borrowing in Tennessee

Three practical readings. First, size your ask to the state's median band — a request that sits where lenders are already active is a materially easier file than one that does not. Second, a decline is a matching problem far more often than a credit problem: the tables above show institutions with completely different appetites operating in the same state in the same year. Third, if your industry is not in the list above, it does not mean no, it means fewer lenders — and that is exactly the situation where going through a partner who knows which desk to call is worth more than another application.

Source: U.S. Small Business Administration, 7(a) and 504 FOIA loan data (data.sba.gov), files as of 30 June 2026, read on 1 September 2026. Figures cover loan APPROVALS, not disbursements, and the files contain no declined applications — so no approval rate can be calculated from them. Fiscal year 2026 is partial (1 October 2025 to 30 June 2026). Aggregated by Goldspur Capital; borrower-level records are not published. State figures are aggregated on the project state of each loan. Program guidelines shown are our lending partners' published minimums as of September 2026 and can change. They are qualification floors, not an offer.