Event and Wedding Venue Feasibility Study Case: Jackson, Wyoming, SBA 504

Feasibility Study Company prepares feasibility studies for owners, developers and their lenders. If you are looking for an event venue feasibility study consultant, or an event venue feasibility study company that shows its arithmetic, this page is a worked example. It follows one hypothetical wedding and event venue in Jackson, Wyoming, financed with an SBA 504 loan, from the public market record to a debt service coverage test. Ask us to run the same feasibility study on your site.

The subject is generic: a single-story hall of about 4,500 square feet that seats about 150 guests, with a terrace, a ceremony lawn and 75 parking spaces, on about 2.0 acres along the US-26/89/191 corridor in Teton County. No parcel, owner, operator or listing is behind it. Every market figure below is a dated public record, while the model figures are engine results that rest on the input list at the foot of the page, where each input says whether a source or an assumption sets it. The venue is part of our event and wedding venue practice, the town is in Wyoming, and the 504 rules in play are explained on our SBA 7(a) and 504 page.

A wedding venue does not draw its customers from the town around it. It draws couples and their guests from elsewhere, and from companies and families who choose Jackson for a retreat or a reunion. The table sets out the public record on the people who come, and on the economy that serves them. Rows marked as relays come from a news outlet that names the original publisher; the sources list says which.

The guests: parks and the airport

Two measures of arrival carry most of the weight. Grand Teton counted 3,800,648 recreation visits in 2025, according to the National Park Service [6]. The Jackson Hole News&Guide's Market Watch column, reporting the airport's and the park service's figures, put the airport at 598,923 enplanements and the park at 3,806,677 recreational visits for the fiscal year that ended in July 2026 [5]. The same column counted 83,388 enplanements in July 2026 and 773,094 park visits that month, and its headline called the airport's July a record for monthly traffic [5]. Enplanements are boardings, so each is a person leaving. A venue's weekend guests mostly arrive on the same flights and leave on them.

The neighbouring national park to the north adds to the pool of travelers who might extend a trip. Yellowstone recorded 4,762,988 recreation visits and 1,238,983 overnight stays in 2025 [17]. In 2026 its May count was 570,272 [18], June was 903,025 and the first half of the year was 1,676,678 [19]. The first seven months reached 2,635,384 [20], August was 856,467 [21], September was 868,450 and the first nine months totaled 4,360,300 [22]. The News&Guide's column put July at 958,705 [5]. Yellowstone spans three states, so these are whole-park counts and not a measure of Teton County, but they show how long the travel season runs: more than 850,000 visits in each of August and September 2026 [21][22].

The visitor economy

The Wyoming Office of Tourism's 2024 study, as Wyoming Public Media reported it, had Teton County at 35% of the $4.9 billion that visitors spent on goods and services in the state [7]. Lodging tax follows the same pattern. Teton County's collections rose 6.4% in fiscal 2025, according to a radio station's account of the state Economic Analysis Division's report [8], and its sales and use tax collections rose 4.2% in the same year, while the statewide total fell [9]. The most recent annual report of the county's travel and tourism board that the research reached covered July 2022 to June 2023, and a local outlet reported $10,095,202.90 of lodging tax revenue and 7,890 tourism-related jobs for that year [10]. That is older data, and the 2025 annual report was not found. It still shows what the visitor trade means to the county's payroll.

Statewide, the Office of Tourism's figures, relayed by a Newcastle newspaper, put travel spending at $5 billion in 2025, visitor-generated state and local taxes at $291.8 million and travel industry earnings at $1.47 billion [14]. Overnight visitors numbered 8.8 million in 2025 [14]; a separate report counted 8.7 million visitors in 2024 [15]. A venue needs to know whether that trade is growing and not just large. Statewide lodging tax collections reached $67.4 million in fiscal 2025 [8], but the 4% lodging sales and use tax fell 4.2% in March 2026 against March 2025 [16]. The signal is mixed: spending is at a record, and one early-2026 month of lodging tax was soft.

The labor market a venue hires from

County unemployment is the first number a venue owner should check, because staffing a seasonal business at a low rate of joblessness is hard. Teton County had the lowest rate in the state in every month the research reached: 1.6% in September 2025 [13], 2.8% in February 2026 [12] and 1.7% in June 2026 [11]. The February figure is the seasonal high and the June figure is the summer low, a spread of more than a point that gives the season's shape in one comparison. The statewide labor market is steadier. Wyoming had 302,100 nonfarm jobs in August 2025 [25] and 304,100 in June 2026 [11]. Private-sector openings created 4,143 jobs in the fourth quarter of 2025 while closings removed 2,668 [23]; the private-sector net job change for the quarter, which also counts expanding and contracting establishments, was +2,174 [23]. In the year to the fourth quarter of 2024, covered employment rose by 1,805 jobs, or 0.6%, and payroll by $194.8 million, or 4.5% [24].

Context from the Census register

The table adds county estimates published by the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis. They cover Teton County, Wyoming only; the Jackson area as the Census Bureau defines it also takes in Teton County, Idaho.

The register describes a wealthy county. Personal income per resident is very high because the measure includes investment income and rent, which accrue to many second-home owners, and the median home value is the clearest sign of the cost of land and housing [2][4]. Households of that kind host destination weddings and family gatherings. They are also the reason a venue's staff cannot easily live nearby, a cost the model carries in its payroll. Median household income is the figure the lender will see first [2], and it is not a measure of what a wedding customer spends: most customers are not residents.

The assumed site covers about 2.0 acres on the US-26/89/191 corridor in Teton County. The parcel, the zoning district, the access permit and the utility territory all remain to be confirmed. The research did not retrieve a traffic count for the corridor, a zoning district for the site, or any building permit or short-term rental rule with a date, and it listed all three as not found. The paragraphs below describe what each gap means for the loan.

Zoning, access and traffic

A wedding venue is a place of public assembly that serves alcohol, hosts amplified music at night and draws hundreds of car trips on a Saturday. Whether the county or the town allows it on the site, under what conditions, with what hours and noise limits, and with what road access, decides whether the building can be used at all. The research could not establish any of these. The lender needs a written zoning determination for the actual parcel and the permit history for the use. A venue needs visibility less than a retail store does, because couples book it in advance, but it needs a safe turning lane and a clear route for shuttles, and a state traffic count for the corridor would show the roadway's capacity. No count was found.

Utilities, wastewater and water

A hall that seats 150 guests discharges a great deal of wastewater on a single day, and a site outside the town's sewer needs an engineered septic system or a package plant. The model carries a site work allowance of $420,000 that covers a line extension or an on-site system, and no provider was confirmed. The same site also needs fire flow. If the water comes from a well, the supply for a large event and for fire protection must be proved. These items can cost more than the allowance, and the utility answer is a lender condition.

Land

The research holds no Teton County land sale, asking price or assessed value, and the county's assessed valuation and mill levy came back from the research as an unreadable file. A listing's price would describe one property and not the market, so the study cites none. The model carries land at a round $650,000 an acre, a planning figure chosen with the county's median home value of $1,633,900 in mind [2]. It is not a sale price. The appraisal and an executed purchase contract take its place, and a lender should expect the appraisal to move the project.

Property tax

The research does not hold Teton County's assessed valuation or mill levy. The model carries property tax at a planning share of 0.65% of land, building and site cost, and the actual levy on a commercial parcel is a lender condition.

A venue's costs are mostly fixed. The model carries a small year-round staff of $160,000 before payroll costs of 18.0%, plus event-day labor of $1,000 for each event for setup, parking and cleaning. It also carries insurance of $60,000, which includes liquor liability, utilities and snow removal of $70,000, marketing of $50,000, repairs and grounds of $60,000 and administration of $40,000. The research holds no Teton County hospitality wage, so these are planning figures. Costs rise 3.0% a year.

The operating cost base moves from $540,680 in Year 1 to $607,371 in Year 3, while revenue grows from $559,000 to $1,118,000. The cost of add-ons is separate, and gross profit is $1,022,800 in Year 3. Net operating income is ($29,280) in Year 1, $275,176 in Year 2 and $415,429 in Year 3, a margin of 37.2% on revenue. That margin is a result of the assumptions, not a market observation, and the lender should test it against operating statements from comparable venues. The research could not supply one.

A 504 project stacks three funding layers. Under the rules in force from October 1, 2026 (SOP 50 10 8.1 with Technical Policy Updates) set the standard split at Third Party Lender 50%, debenture 40%, borrower 10%; debenture 35% at a 15% contribution and 30% at 20% [26]. The borrower's contribution starts at 10%, rises to 15% for a new business or a limited or special purpose property, and to 20% when the business is both [26]. The subject's borrower is a new business, so the model applies the middle tier. The sponsor in this case proposes the standard contribution of 10.0%, which fails the tier before any coverage test is run.

Whether the building is a limited or special purpose property is a question for the CDC. SBA describes such a property as a limited-market property with a unique physical design, special construction materials, or a layout that restricts its utility to the use for which it was built [26], and gives an example list that is not all-inclusive. A single-story hall with a kitchen shell and a dance floor is a reasonable candidate for that treatment. The model does not assume it, and a CDC that did would move the contribution to the top tier. That is a lender condition and a risk.

At the proposed contribution the debenture would be $1,881,042, under the $5 million limit [26], so the size test passes. At 42.2% the debenture falls to $366,212, under the program limit, and the bank lends $2,347,516, 50.0% of cost. The debenture can run 10, 20 or 25 years, and the larger asset category sets the maturity; land, building and site work dominate the proceeds, so the model uses the longest term and matches the bank amortization to it [26]. Because the bank's share is fixed at half of cost, extra equity can only come out of the debenture, the cheaper and longer money, so the restructured project keeps little of what the program offers.

The owner-occupancy test shapes who holds the building. For a new building the test is 60% [26]. The operating company occupies the whole hall, so the test is met if the company owns the property or leases it from an affiliate under the program's rules, which a lender or CDC will want documented. The debenture rate of 7.00% is an assumption that the sale of the debenture will settle, and the bank rate of 7.50% is another: Prime was 7.00% in the October 9, 2026 H.15 release [28], plus half a point for a start-up venue, while the third-party spread is capped at 6% over New York Prime [26]. The FY2027 upfront fee is 0.50% of the debenture and joins project cost [27].

The text of the rule is 13 CFR 120.160(b): SBA may require professional appraisals, a survey, or a feasibility study [29], so the lender decides file by file. A ground-up venue run by a start-up borrower is a likely candidate for the request. Our event and wedding venue hub explains how a venue is valued on its cash flow and its building separately.

The 504 coverage standard is 1.15x. A new business has no operating history to test, so the engine reads the projection for Year 2. As proposed, at 10.0% equity, two tests fail: the contribution is under the new-business tier, and Year 2 coverage is 0.74x. Coverage is -0.08x in Year 1 and 1.12x at stabilization. Weak demand is not the cause; the cause is a seasonal start-up asked to carry $368,049 of debt service from its second year.

As restructured, the engine first lifts the contribution to the tier, then looks for the least equity at which Year 2 coverage meets the floor. That share is 42.2%: debt service falls to $239,235, and coverage reaches 1.15x in Year 2 and 1.73x in Year 3. The bank keeps half of cost, so the extra equity displaces debenture money, the longest and cheapest layer. The test year clears the floor with little to spare, which makes this the minimum that works, not a figure to aim for.

A sponsor can reach a structure like this in three ways: more cash, an existing building bought or leased in place of new construction (which this case does not model), or signed first-season deposits that prove bookings ramp faster than modelled. The original request is none of the three. Contact Feasibility Study Company if you want an event venue feasibility study company to price your own venue against the floor in advance. The lender reads our work and decides for itself.

Down the rows the wedding count moves by up to a fifth; across the columns the rental fee moves. Cells show Year 2 coverage on the restructured loan, ranging from 0.48x to 1.93x. The range is wide because most of the venue's cost is already fixed in the ramp year, so a revenue change lands almost entirely on income. A single step down in weddings or in the fee puts Year 2 under the floor; a single step up in either clears it. A sponsor should line up signed deposits for the first season and a tested price before applying.