Prepared for lenders, CDCs, and federal agencies to SBA SOP 50 10 8, USDA RD Instruction 5001, and conventional underwriting standards. Fiduciary duty runs to the lender and the agency, never the borrower. More than 4,000 studies since 1998 covering $40.2 billion in evaluated project value.
Controlled-environment feasibility is yield-per-square-foot against energy reality: the crop program's productive assumptions tested against operating comparables rather than vendor claims, energy load and rate exposure as the dominant cost, the retail or wholesale channel commitments behind price assumptions, and labor modeling for the harvest program. Vertical-farming projects receive conservative treatment proportional to the category's record.
The analysis benchmarks yields against operating facilities, models energy load and rates explicitly, reviews offtake and channel commitments, and tests coverage under yield and price sensitivity with energy escalation.
Every Wert-Berater financial model is fully linked with no hardcoded values, so any reviewer can stress any input. Deliverables comprise a complete narrative report and the linked Excel model, with ten-year pro forma, sensitivity analysis at ±5, 10, and 15 percent, interest-rate stress from +0.5 to +3.0 percent, and ratio analysis benchmarked against RMA and IBISWorld data.
SBA engagements are prepared to SOP 50 10 8, including its debt-service-coverage minimums of 1.15x operating and 1.00x global. USDA engagements follow RD Staff Instruction 5001 across the Business & Industry, Community Facilities, REAP, and Value-Added Producer Grant programs. Conventional engagements are built to the lender's stated coverage standard, typically 1.20x. Agricultural engagements are the heart of the USDA practice: B&I for rural enterprises, Value-Added Producer Grant studies to RD Instruction 5001 where producers integrate forward, and Farm Credit and conventional structures otherwise; job creation, producer benefit, and rural economic impact are documented to the agency standard.
The firm's agricultural and food-system record includes USDA-compliant processing, cold-chain, and winery engagements nationwide, including a $10,066,000 vineyard and winery estate in Temecula, California. Independence is non-negotiable: determinations follow the evidence and are not revised under pressure, and studies are built to pass lender, agency, and third-party review without exception items.
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