Who we are
Wert-Berater, Inc. has prepared independent feasibility studies for lenders, certified development companies, and federal agencies since 1998 — more than four thousand engagements representing $40.2 billion in evaluated project value across all fifty states and international assignments. Our fiduciary duty runs to the lender and the agency, never to the sponsor’s optimism: fees are fixed, quoted up front, never contingent on findings, and a determination is never changed under pressure.
What we do
Feasibility studies for USDA Business & Industry guarantees, Community Facilities financing, REAP renewable-energy projects, and Value-Added Producer Grant ventures — rural hospitals and clinics, processing plants, lodging, energy systems, agricultural ventures, and the full range of rural enterprise. Each study is constructed on the five-factor framework of 7 CFR Part 5001, with rural-area eligibility, citizenship and ownership requirements, and program-specific conditions addressed in the document itself.
How we do it
Each 5001 factor receives its own evidenced analysis: market feasibility from primary demand data; technical feasibility from the engineering and operational record; financial feasibility through the fully linked model at the program’s coverage standard; management feasibility from documented operator capability; economic feasibility from the project’s position in its rural economy. The study is written for the agency reviewer first — because that is who decides.
How we can help you
Agency review timelines are the binding constraint on most USDA deals, and incomplete studies are the most common cause of delay. A study that arrives organized to the regulation’s own structure shortens the review, answers the conditions before they are asked, and gives the lender a guarantee file that closes. The firm’s rural practice spans hundreds of B&I and CF engagements — this framework is native territory.
How to engage us
Standard delivery is 10 to 15 business days from complete project data. Rush delivery for deals already in underwriting is accepted case by case for an additional fixed fee, quoted up front and committed in writing. Engagements are typically initiated by the borrower, with lender or CDC confirmation obtained before work begins — institutions differ, so confirm the procedure with your lending contact.
What a USDA feasibility study consultant does
A USDA feasibility study consultant is an independent, arm’s-length analyst engaged to test a rural project’s viability and repayment ability before Rural Development guarantees the loan. The consultant works for the strength of the file, not the sponsor’s optimism — which is precisely why the Agency requires the study to come from a third party with no financial interest in the outcome.
One regulation, four programs: the OneRD framework
The OneRD Guarantee Loan Initiative harmonizes USDA Rural Development’s guaranteed-loan programs — Business & Industry (B&I), Community Facilities (CF), the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), and Water & Waste Disposal — under a single regulation, 7 CFR Part 5001, with one application process and one loan-note guarantee. The consolidation simplified the paperwork; it did not soften the underwriting. Unlike the SBA’s principles-based approach, Part 5001 prescribes the feasibility analysis: five feasibility dimensions, with Appendix A to Subpart D enumerating the individual factors a compliant study must address. The National Office reviews against the list, and an unaddressed factor is a returned study.
When USDA requires an independent feasibility study
Under 7 CFR Part 5001, Rural Development typically requires an independent feasibility study for guaranteed loans involving new enterprises, significant expansions, or transactions where the borrower’s ability to repay is uncertain — in short, wherever repayment depends on projections rather than demonstrated historical cash flow. The lender obtains the study as part of the guarantee file, and it must be prepared by a qualified party acceptable to the lender and the Agency. Requirements also arise across Community Facilities, REAP, and Value-Added Producer Grant applications. The regulation states plainly that the guarantee is reserved for quality loans, not marginal or substandard credits — the feasibility study is how a projection-based rural project demonstrates it belongs in the first category.
The five required components under 7 CFR Part 5001
- Economic feasibility — the project’s standing in its rural economy and its broader impact: the economics tested against benchmarked, sourced assumptions rather than asserted numbers.
- Market feasibility — a defined trade area, demand quantified from primary data, competitive supply mapped, and a capture rate the analyst can defend in review.
- Technical feasibility — site suitability, construction cost validation, contractor capability, equipment condition, and commissioning schedules demonstrated rather than asserted — the dimension most often under-evidenced in returned files.
- Financial feasibility — a fully linked, ramp-resolved multi-year model tested at the program’s coverage standard, with every source of the capital stack tied to every use.
- Management feasibility — documented operator capability and depth, stated honestly.
Program by program: what changes, what doesn’t
Business & Industry (B&I) underwrites rural commercial credit — acquisitions, construction, expansion, working capital — and its files most often stall on three recurring issues: rural eligibility checked too late, an under-evidenced technical dimension on processing and manufacturing projects, and a capital stack presented without reconciliation when guaranteed debt layers over sponsor equity and grants. Community Facilities (CF) projects — healthcare, public safety, education, civic infrastructure — are underwritten on sustainability rather than profit: the study must pass the essentiality test with census evidence, match the proposed scale to the demonstrated service gap, and stress the revenue model the facility actually lives on, whether payer mix, enrollment, or tax capacity. REAP finances renewable generation and efficiency, where revenue is a physical production forecast multiplied by a price — both halves need independent evidence, the offtake structure governs the risk, and the incentive stack must reconcile with and without the layers that are not contractually committed. Value-Added Producer Grants (VAPG) require the feasibility case for the value-added enterprise itself. The five-factor framework is constant across all of them; the analytical emphasis moves with the program.
Coverage, the way USDA defines it
USDA practice under 7 CFR 5001 defines debt-service coverage on an EBITDA basis less reasonably expected replacement capital expenditures — a definition with teeth, because it forces capex reserves into the calculation rather than letting depreciation inflate coverage. Assets that consume themselves on a schedule show the difference quickly: a pro forma at 1.45x coverage that reserves nothing for the roof or the equipment cycle is showing a number that will not survive year six. We model reserves explicitly and report coverage both ways, so the reviewer sees the margin that is actually there.
How the Agency reviews the file
The lender submits the guarantee file — feasibility study included — and Rural Development reviews it against the regulation before issuing the loan-note guarantee. Because Part 5001 enumerates its factors, our studies arrive organized to the regulation’s own structure with a factor-compliance matrix cross-referencing each enumerated requirement to the section that satisfies it, so the reviewer can verify compliance on sight and cite the study directly. A study built this way shortens review, answers conditions before they are raised, and gives the lender a guarantee file that closes.
The engagement, step by step
- 1. Scope and quote. Tell us the program, project, and timeline; a fixed fee is quoted in writing within one business day, at no charge.
- 2. Eligibility check first. Rural-area eligibility is verified before the study is commissioned, not after — the program’s definitions reward checking early.
- 3. Data collection. Project budget and sources-and-uses, site and technical documentation, management résumés, historical financials where they exist, and the lender’s term sheet.
- 4. Analysis and model. The five factors evidenced separately; the fully linked model built to the program’s coverage definition and stressed.
- 5. Delivery and Agency support. Standard delivery is 10 to 15 business days from complete data, and we answer lender and Agency reviewer questions directly after delivery.
What’s inside the USDA deliverable
The study arrives organized to the regulation’s own structure, so the Agency reviewer can cite it directly: each of the five factors receives its own evidenced section, supported by a fully linked financial model with zero hardcoded numbers, sensitivity and stress testing, and an explicit statement of conditions. Rural-area eligibility, citizenship and ownership requirements, and program-specific conditions are addressed inside the document itself, where the reviewer expects to find them.
Credentials and cost
Studies are prepared by senior analysts — including MAI-designated professionals and former institutional underwriters — under principal review, with independence that is non-negotiable. The firm has prepared 817 USDA studies reviewed in agency financing since 1998, from $1 million rural businesses to a $38,110,000 sugar refinery restoration. The fee is fixed and quoted in writing within one business day, scoped to the project rather than the deal size, and never contingent on the finding. Standard delivery is 10 to 15 business days from complete data, with rush available for a fixed add-on.
Frequently asked questions
When does USDA require a feasibility study?
Rural Development typically requires an independent study for guaranteed loans involving new businesses, significant expansions, or transactions where repayment ability is uncertain, under 7 CFR Part 5001. Your lender obtains it as part of the guarantee file.
What are the five required components of a USDA feasibility study?
Under Appendix A to Subpart D of 7 CFR Part 5001, a study must address economic feasibility, market feasibility, technical feasibility, financial feasibility, and management feasibility — each evidenced separately.
What does “OneRD” mean?
The OneRD Guarantee Loan Initiative consolidated USDA Rural Development’s guaranteed-loan programs — B&I, Community Facilities, REAP, and Water & Waste Disposal — under one regulation (7 CFR Part 5001), one application process, and one loan-note guarantee. The paperwork was simplified; the underwriting standard was not.
Who is allowed to prepare a USDA feasibility study?
It must be an independent, qualified party with no financial interest in the project — an arm’s-length third party acceptable to the lender and the Agency. That independence is the point of the requirement.
How does USDA define debt-service coverage?
USDA practice under 7 CFR 5001 works from EBITDA less reasonably expected replacement capital expenditures — so reserves for the asset’s real consumption schedule come out before coverage is measured. We report coverage both with and without reserves so the reviewer sees the true margin.
What is the factor-compliance matrix?
A cross-reference table in every Wert-Berater USDA study mapping each enumerated 7 CFR Part 5001 requirement to the section that satisfies it. The National Office reviews against the regulation’s list, and an unaddressed factor is a returned study — the matrix lets the reviewer verify compliance on sight.
How do I know if my project is in an eligible rural area?
Eligibility turns on the program’s definitions and current designations, and it should be verified before the study is commissioned — it is one of the three issues that most often trips up applications. We check it at scoping, and your lender or the Rural Development office can confirm a property’s status.
Which USDA programs do you prepare studies for?
Business & Industry (B&I), Community Facilities, the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), and Value-Added Producer Grants (VAPG), among other rural programs.
Can the same firm prepare the study and support the lender’s underwriting?
Yes, within the independence boundary: for OneRD lenders the firm also provides outsourced credit analysis and credit-memorandum preparation in the lender’s own template, so the study and the credit file align to a single standard without shifting credit authority. The feasibility determination itself remains independent.
How long does a USDA study take, and what does it cost?
Standard delivery is 10 to 15 business days from complete data; rush is available. The fee is fixed and quoted up front within one business day, scoped to the project and never contingent on the outcome.