Main Street Monday: Shutdown Hangover – 504 Lending Still Paying the Price for Washington’s 43 Day Shutdown

July 20, 2026

Bob Coleman
Founder & Publisher

Main Street Monday: Shutdown Hangover – 504 Lending Still Paying the Price for Washington’s 43 Day Shutdown

Nine months into fiscal year 2026, SBA 504 lending is running below last year’s pace. The reason is not a weaker demand. The story of FY 2026 is the 43-day federal government shutdown that eliminated nearly half of the program’s first quarter.

By the Numbers

  • 4,459 SBA 504 loans approved through June 30, 2026
  • $5.26 billion in approved financing
  • 168 active Certified Development Companies
  • Annualized pace is approximately:
    • 10% below FY 2025’s $7.8 billion in approvals
    • 12% below FY 2025’s 6,762 loan approvals

Top 10 SBA 504 Certified Development Companies

FY 2026 (Nine Months Ended June 30, 2026)
Ranked by SBA 504 loan approval dollars: Top 10 SBA 504 CDCs Through Nine Months of FY 2026

Ranked by loan approval dollars

  • 1. Mortgage Capital Development Corporation (Oakland, CA) — $554.8 million, 354 loans
  • 2. Business Finance Capital (Los Angeles, CA) — $329.5 million, 241 loans
  • 3. Florida Business Development Corporation (Tampa, FL) — $314.3 million, 278 loans
  • 4. California Statewide Certified Development Corporation (Davis, CA) — $275.5 million, 201 loans
  • 5. Florida First Capital Finance Corporation (Tallahassee, FL) — $265.1 million, 190 loans
  • 6. Mountain West Small Business Finance (Salt Lake City, UT) — $221.3 million, 182 loans
  • 7. Empire State Certified Development Corporation (Latham, NY) — $160.1 million, 136 loans
  • 8. Capital Certified Development Corporation (Austin, TX) — $158.6 million, 104 loans
  • 9. Small Business Growth Corporation (Springfield, IL) — $155.0 million, 127 loans
  • 10. Trenton Business Assistance Corporation (Princeton, NJ) — $144.5 million, 73 loans

Notable Movers

  • Business Finance Capital climbed from #4 to #2, posting 14.1% annualized dollar growth despite the overall market slowdown.
  • Small Business Growth Corporation jumped from #11 to #9, with 25.5% annualized growth in dollar volume, the strongest increase among the Top 10.
  • Florida First Capital experienced the largest decline among the Top 5, with 17.2% lower dollar volume and 27.4% fewer approvals on an annualized basis.
  • Mortgage Capital Development Corporation remained the nation’s largest CDC for both loan dollars and loan count despite running below its record FY 2025 pace.

What Happened?

When Congress failed to pass appropriations on October 1, the first day of the fiscal year, SBA effectively shut down the 504 program.

During the 43-day shutdown:

  • SBA suspended new 504 approvals.
  • CDCs continued underwriting loans but could not obtain SBA approvals.
  • SBA estimates the shutdown delayed $5.3 billion in 7(a) and 504 financing for approximately 10,000 small businesses.

Why Demand Still Looks Strong

Several indicators suggest borrower demand remained healthy.

  • Average loan size increased 2% to $1.18 million.
  • Larger owner-occupied commercial real estate and equipment projects continued moving forward.
  • Smaller projects were more likely to be delayed or abandoned.
  • The slowdown occurred across nearly every CDC rather than being concentrated among a handful of lenders.
  • That pattern points to a temporary operational disruption, not deteriorating credit quality.

Source: Coleman Report analysis of SBA 504 CDC Activity Report data through June 30, 2026, compared with FY 2025 full-year approvals.

Coleman Report Premium subscribers receive the complete SBA 504 CDC Rankings spreadsheet through June 30, 2026, including FY 2025 and FY 2026 rankings by loan count and dollar volume for every Certified Development Company. Your subscription also includes unlimited access to the Coleman Report Premium archive and every new Premium report published during the next 12 months.