SBA-Financed Trades Business Acquisitions in New Jersey: The Data
New Jersey recorded 89 SBA-financed trades-business acquisitions from FY2020 through FY2025 — about 15 per year statewide — totaling $93.7M at an average loan of $1,053,089, above the $1,010,393 national average. That is 2.0% of the nation's 4,370 SBA-financed trades acquisitions, against roughly 2.8% of the U.S. population: New Jersey's deals are larger than average, and there are fewer of them than the state's size would predict.
| New Jersey | National | |
|---|---|---|
| Acquisition loans, FY2020–25 | 89 | 4,370 |
| Dollars approved | $93.7M | $4,415.4M |
| Average loan | $1,053,089 | $1,010,393 |
| Loans per year (avg) | ~15 | ~728 |
| Share of national loans | 2.0% | — |
| Share of national dollars | 2.1% | — |
New Jersey ranks 20th among states by acquisition count and 17th by dollars — fewer deals than its size predicts, at bigger checks. By trade:
| Trade | Loans | Dollars | Avg loan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plumbing / HVAC contractors | 16 | $24.5M | $1,532,356 |
| Auto repair (general) | 15 | $7.9M | $526,800 |
| Landscaping services | 14 | $7.9M | $563,586 |
| Janitorial / cleaning | 11 | $4.4M | $396,455 |
| Electrical contractors | 6 | $8.1M | $1,352,750 |
| Site prep / excavation | 6 | $13.8M | $2,300,750 |
| Local freight trucking | 6 | $7.6M | $1,266,667 |
| Painting contractors | 5 | $5.8M | $1,168,100 |
| Other specialty trades | 4 | $7.5M | $1,871,775 |
| Roofing contractors | 2 | $4.0M | $1,977,000 |
| Pest control | 2 | $0.9M | $442,500 |
| Flooring | 1 | $1.1M | $1,073,000 |
| Masonry | 1 | $0.3M | $293,400 |
Most cells are single digits — read the averages as indicative, not statistics. Finish carpentry and appliance repair recorded zero NJ acquisitions in the file.
Plumbing/HVAC is the center of the state's market: 16 loans — 18% of New Jersey's deals — carrying 26% of its dollars, at an average loan of $1,532,356, roughly 35% above the trade's national average of $1,138,681. Buyers financing New Jersey HVAC and plumbing businesses through the SBA channel are writing meaningfully larger checks than their national peers. Site prep and excavation wrote the state's largest checks ($2.3M average across six deals), and electrical held near its national average at $1,352,750.
The scarcity is sharpest where it matters most to an owner in the core trades: across plumbing/HVAC, electrical, and roofing combined, New Jersey recorded 24 SBA-financed acquisitions in six years — four financed exits a year, statewide.
Fifteen financed exits a year, statewide
Hold the number against what it covers: every SBA-financed change of ownership across HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, landscaping, and ten other trade and field-service categories, in a state of roughly nine million people dense with established, owner-operated trades businesses — fifteen deals a year.
Two honest readings are possible, and the data cannot separate them. Fewer New Jersey trades businesses may be changing hands than the state's demographics would predict; or a larger share of New Jersey's deals may be financed conventionally or seller-financed, which this dataset cannot see. Either way, the visible, bank-financed exit channel is lightly used in New Jersey — at the same time that channel is setting national records (1,003 loans in FY2025, up 73% since FY2020) and trades owners here are aging on the same schedule as everywhere else.
For a New Jersey owner, the practical read is this: nationally, more buyers than ever are financing acquisitions of businesses like yours, at above-average check sizes in this state — and very few of your peers are meeting that demand through the channel the public record can see. Whether that is a gap in exits or a gap in preparation, it is a gap.
Source and definitions: Lodestar Research analysis of the SBA 7(a) FOIA loan-level dataset (FY2020–2025 approvals; acquisitions = change-of-ownership loans in trades industry codes; state is the project — i.e., business — location). Full definitions and limitations: methodology. Part of Who's Buying the Trades.
Cite as: Lodestar Research analysis of SBA 7(a) FOIA data, 2026.
Lodestar Research publishes market analysis for general information. Nothing on this page is a valuation of any specific business, legal, tax, or lending advice, or an offer to buy or sell securities.
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