SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA · FY1991–PRESENT · MONTANA
Ace Hardware franchise in Montana: what the public record shows
Franchisees of Ace Hardware in Montana have taken 17 SBA loans since 1991 (average $862,870)— too few resolved loans in-state to publish a local failure rate (we require a resolved cohort, never extrapolate), so the brand's national rate of 12.2% is the better guide.
Loans in MT
17
Resolved
7
Local charge-off
thin
National charge-off
12.2%
Source: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA files (data.sba.gov), borrower state = MT. Charge-off rate = charged-off ÷ (charged-off + paid-in-full); open loans excluded. A local rate is published only when the resolved cohort clears our floor of 30 loans.
Businesses in this industry
816
statewide, all operators
Per 100k residents
71.8
national 39.6
Versus the country
+81%
denser
Every business in Ace Hardware's industry operating in Montana — franchised and independent — from the Census Bureau's County Business Patterns (2023), against 2024 population estimates. Counter-intuitively, density is not a warning: across 198 brand-state cells in our loan data, the densest quartile charges off at 5.6% versus 18.1% in the thinnest. A crowded market is usually proven demand; an empty one is often empty for a reason.
Avg weekly wage, this industry
$1,086
Montana, BLS QCEW 2025
National average
$1,252
same industry, all states
Versus the country
-13%
cheaper to staff
What Ace Hardware's industry actually pays workers in Montana, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (2025), employment-weighted across counties. This is a real cost signal independent of the FDD — a market can look demand-rich above and still carry a margin headwind here if local wages run hot for the sector.
| System | Loans in MT | Local charge-off | Units in MT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Snap-On | 8 | thin | — |
| Coast-to-Coast Store | 5 | thin | — |
Same sector, same state, same public records — how Ace Hardware compares to the systems a buyer in Montana would actually be choosing between. Local rates under 10 resolved loans are marked thin, not hidden.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. I'm paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing Ace Hardware's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.