Prepared for lenders, CDCs, and federal agencies to SBA SOP 50 10 8, USDA 7 CFR Part 5001, and conventional underwriting standards. Fiduciary duty runs to the lender and the agency, never the borrower. 4,000+ engagements since 1998 covering $41.2 billion in evaluated project value. So far in 2026: 41 engagements and $1.54 billion evaluated — 17 SBA, 11 USDA.
Manufacturing feasibility joins market demand to production economics. The study establishes demand for the plant's output — contracted, identified, or market-derived — then tests the production model: capacity and utilization ramp, input cost structure, labor availability at the required skill level, and the capital budget against industry benchmarks. Wood-products plants — lumber, millwork, cabinets, trusses, pallets — are analyzed on timber or input supply within haul distance, housing-cycle demand exposure, and the automation level that determines labor economics. Because USDA and SBA reviewers read manufacturing studies against job-creation and rural-impact criteria as well as repayment, the study documents employment, wage levels, and local economic effect to the standard the program requires.
Methodology combines industry production and pricing data, timber supply and housing-start series, RSMeans location-adjusted facility budgets, BLS occupational wage data for the staffing model, and RMA and IBISWorld operating benchmarks. The financial model carries the utilization ramp, input-cost sensitivity, and program coverage tests across the firm's standard stress discipline, with every assumption sourced.
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. Manufacturing reaches us predominantly through USDA B&I — where rural plant economics and job creation align with program purpose — alongside SBA 504 for owner-occupied facilities and conventional lending; Value-Added Producer Grant studies are prepared to 7 CFR Part 5001 where agricultural producers integrate forward into processing.
The firm's manufacturing and processing record spans USDA B&I and SBA engagements nationwide, including cold-chain, food-system, and industrial projects; manufacturing studies are prepared with the same fully linked financial models and stress discipline as every Wert-Berater engagement. 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.
Screening the industrial market before committing to a full engagement? Manufacturing Market Risk Intelligence is a report prepared by our analysts to a published structure: supply, demand and the operating conditions in one market, with coverage shown before the order is taken. It is a market risk view, not a feasibility determination on your project, and it does not replace the study described on this page.
A feasibility study for a wood products or millwork plant must do more than confirm that lumber sells. It must trace the full operating system—from raw material origin through finished-goods delivery—and test whether the proposed facility can sustain debt service across a realistic utilization ramp. The narrative and model address each layer of that system explicitly, so a lender or agency reviewer can follow every assumption from source to coverage ratio without leaving the document.
Demand for a wood products or millwork plant is not a single market—it is a stack of end-use channels, each with its own buyer behavior and cycle exposure. The analysis disaggregates those channels before aggregating a supportable revenue projection, so the coverage test rests on a defensible count rather than a top-down percentage of a published market size.
For residential-oriented output—cabinets, trusses, millwork, dimension lumber—the demand build begins with U.S. Census Bureau building-permit and housing-start series at the county and metropolitan level, supplemented by state housing-finance agency forecasts and regional homebuilder association data. Commercial and industrial channels are sized through construction-contract databases, state economic-development project announcements, and direct interviews with identified buyers. Pallet and industrial-packaging demand is cross-referenced against regional manufacturing employment and warehousing activity reported in BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages data.
Competitive supply is mapped through state forestry agency mill registries, USDA Forest Service timber-harvest reports, and trade-association member directories. Where a plant will sell through distribution, distributor territory maps and published price lists establish the competitive price ceiling. Contracted or letter-of-intent volume is documented and segregated from market-derived projections, and the study states explicitly what share of projected revenue depends on contracts not yet executed—a distinction agency reviewers require and lenders rely on when sizing exposure.
Wood products manufacturing is operationally leveraged: fixed costs—debt service, depreciation, and core labor—are largely invariant while revenue moves with volume and price. That leverage means a modest adverse move in one or two key inputs can compress coverage from acceptable to deficient. The study identifies those inputs explicitly, sources each assumption, and stress-tests each one independently and in combination so the lender can see where the margin lives.
SBA, USDA, and conventional lenders each approach a wood products or millwork plant with a distinct set of concerns, and a study that satisfies one program's documentation standard does not automatically satisfy another's. Wert-Berater prepares each engagement to the specific standard the financing program requires.
SBA SOP 50 10 8 requires the study to demonstrate 1.15x operating debt-service coverage and 1.00x global coverage. For a wood products plant, SBA reviewers focus on the concentration of revenue in the housing cycle, the adequacy of the collateral position given equipment depreciation curves, and whether the ownership group has demonstrated manufacturing management experience. The study addresses each of those concerns with sourced evidence, not assertion.
USDA Business & Industry and Value-Added Producer Grant reviewers apply 7 CFR Part 5001 and weight rural economic impact heavily. Job creation, wage levels relative to the county median, and the use of locally sourced timber or agricultural residuals are documented in the narrative because they bear on credit-committee scoring, not only on repayment analysis. REAP eligibility for energy-efficiency investments in kiln or drying systems is noted where applicable.
Conventional lenders typically require 1.20x coverage and focus on collateral liquidation value for specialized equipment, customer concentration among homebuilders or distributors, and working-capital adequacy given the inventory cycle for green and dried lumber. The study addresses each concern with ratio analysis benchmarked against RMA and IBISWorld operating data for the relevant NAICS code.
Every engagement begins with a fixed, quoted fee—delivered within one business day of inquiry—so sponsors and lenders know the cost before committing. The fee does not vary with the study's finding, and no portion is contingent on loan approval or a favorable conclusion. Wert-Berater's fiduciary duty runs to the lender and the reviewing agency; the fee structure is designed to keep that duty unambiguous.
The data room drives the clock. Standard delivery is ten to fifteen business days from receipt of a complete data room, which for a wood products or millwork plant typically includes the site control document or lease, equipment quotes or appraisals, timber supply agreements or supplier letters, any executed sales contracts or letters of intent, three years of historical financials for an existing operation, and the ownership group's résumés. Rush delivery is available when a credit committee or agency submission deadline requires it.
Once the engagement opens, the financial model is published to a secure client portal. The model is a fully linked Excel workbook with no hardcoded values; every input cell is visible and documented, and the model recalculates in real time when a reviewer changes an assumption. That architecture means a lender's credit officer or an agency's financial analyst can run their own stress scenarios without requesting a revised document. The bound narrative report, ten-year pro forma, sensitivity tables, interest-rate stress schedule, RMA and IBISWorld ratio benchmarks, and explicit statement of conditions are delivered as a single package at completion.
The fee is fixed and quoted within one business day of inquiry. It does not vary with the study's conclusion, and no portion is contingent on loan approval. Because scope varies by plant type, financing program, and data complexity, the firm quotes each engagement individually rather than publishing a schedule. Contact Wert-Berater directly for a same-day quote.
Standard delivery is ten to fifteen business days from receipt of a complete data room. The data room for a wood products plant typically includes site control documents, equipment quotes, timber supply agreements, sales contracts or letters of intent, and ownership résumés. Rush delivery is available when an agency submission or credit-committee deadline requires a shorter window.
Three factors create underwriting complexity: raw-material cost volatility tied to timber markets and haul-distance logistics; revenue concentration in the housing cycle, which introduces demand risk that is largely outside management's control; and the specialized nature of equipment, which limits collateral liquidation value. A credible study isolates each factor, sources the assumptions, and stress-tests them independently so the lender can see where coverage erodes first.
The two programs apply different documentation standards—7 CFR Part 5001 for USDA and SOP 50 10 8 for SBA—and weight criteria differently. A study prepared to one standard may not satisfy the other without supplemental analysis. Wert-Berater identifies the applicable program at engagement opening and prepares the study to that standard; if dual-program documentation is required, the scope is defined and quoted accordingly.
USDA Business & Industry and Value-Added Producer Grant reviewers score rural economic impact as part of credit-committee evaluation. A plant that sources timber from within the rural service area, creates jobs at or above the county median wage, and processes a locally harvested agricultural or forestry commodity generally presents a stronger program fit. The feasibility study documents those factors explicitly because they bear on agency scoring, not only on repayment analysis.
The study delivers a fully linked Excel workbook covering a ten-year pro forma, sensitivity analysis at plus-or-minus five, ten, and fifteen percent on key revenue and cost inputs, interest-rate stress from plus-0.5 to plus-3.0 percent, and ratio analysis benchmarked against RMA and IBISWorld data for the relevant NAICS code. No values are hardcoded; a lender's credit officer can change any input and the model recalculates immediately.
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Wert-Berater, Inc. is an independent provider of feasibility studies and other related services. The firm does not provide financing or equity investment advice, and does not arrange, broker, or place debt or equity capital of any kind.
All appraisal assignments are performed by Bruce E. Jones, MAI, ASA-GC, BCA, CMEA, a member of the Appraisal Institute since 2006, a staff member of Wert-Berater, Inc. and owner of Special Purpose Realty Valuation.