USDA B&I Car Wash Feasibility Study Case Study: Combined Tunnel, In-Bay and Self-Serve Wash in Antigo, Wisconsin

A rural county seat in the Wisconsin salt belt with no express tunnel in town, a mandatory USDA feasibility study above the $1,000,000 new-business trigger, and a format built for the market: a 70-foot mini tunnel, two in-bay automatics and three self-serve bays, one sized for trucks. Total project cost of $3,841,859, a B&I guaranteed loan of $3,073,487 at an 85 percent guarantee, coverage of 1.10x in Year 2 and 1.36x in Year 3. Written determination: feasible.

Model study prepared by MMCG Invest | Michal Mohelsky, J.D., FMVA | October 1, 2026

MMCG concludes that the proposed combined-format car wash in Antigo, Wisconsin is feasible as proposed under a USDA Business and Industry guaranteed loan of $3,073,487 with a borrower contribution of $768,372 and a financial reserve of $170,000 funded at closing. Antigo is the courthouse, hospital and retail center for Langlade County, whose $760.2 million in 2022 retail sales is more than double that of neighboring Taylor County on a similar household base, and no modern express tunnel operates in town. The Project covers its debt service 1.10 times in Year 2 and 1.36 times at stabilization in Year 3, measured as USDA defines debt coverage: EBITDA less reasonably expected replacement capital expenditure, divided by annual debt service. The format matters to the determination: a full-size express tunnel sized to Sunbelt membership economics would overbuild a town of 8,060 residents, while a short tunnel paired with in-bay automatics and self-serve bays matches the market's mix of commuters, retirees, farm trucks and winter salt exposure. The determination is conditioned on a USDA Rural Development eligibility map confirmation for the selected parcel, because an application cannot be approved subject to meeting rural area requirements, and on the guarantee percentage and fees in the OneRD notice in force when the guarantee is obligated.

This is an MMCG model study: a complete USDA B&I feasibility analysis performed on a model site in a real market using public data, prepared to show rural lenders and borrowers how MMCG addresses the feasibility study requirement in 7 CFR Part 5001 for a car wash. The market, program rules, demographics, salt-belt data, competition and tax treatment come from the public record. The specific parcel has not been selected, and the land price, development budget and operating assumptions are modeled and labeled as such. MMCG has no relationship with any landowner, lender or operator in Langlade County. Items that could not be verified at the study date are disclosed in the Conditions and Limitations section.

Under 7 CFR 5001.306(a)(3)(i), a guaranteed loan greater than $1,000,000 to a new business requires a feasibility study prepared by an independent qualified consultant acceptable to the Agency. The regulation defines a new business as one in operation for less than one full year, and the definition includes a new enterprise or new affiliate of an existing business moving into a new location involving new market or labor areas, so an operator from another town opening in Antigo is still a new business. Part 5001 defines the feasibility study as a report including an opinion or finding by an independent qualified consultant evaluating the economic, market, technical, financial and management feasibility of the proposed project in terms of its expectation for success, and defines a qualified consultant as an independent third party with the knowledge, expertise and experience to perform the specific task required. The regulation also bars conflicts of interest, including a person acting as a compensated agent of both the borrower and the lender on the same guaranteed loan. This study is organized around those elements.

The FY2026 OneRD notice states that its rates apply to guaranteed loans obligated in fiscal year 2026; a fiscal 2027 notice had not been published at the study date. The guarantee percentage and fees used here are the most recent published terms and are fixed at obligation under the notice then in force.

Why B&I rather than SBA. The Project could also be financed under SBA 7(a) or 504. B&I fits better on three counts: the 85 percent guarantee on a loan of this size, a term of up to 40 years tied to asset life, and a rural eligibility test the Project meets. The trade-off is the mandatory feasibility study above $1,000,000 for a new business, which this study satisfies, and the guarantee fee of 3.0 percent of the guaranteed portion.

The Project will operate as a combined-format car wash on a 1.6-acre commercial site on the Wisconsin 64 corridor in Antigo, the county seat of Langlade County, Wisconsin, serving the city and the surrounding county trade area that comes to Antigo for its courthouse, hospital, schools and retail. The physical program comprises a 5,200 SF insulated building complex with in-floor heat, boilers and freeze protection, housing a 70-foot express mini tunnel with friction wash, undercarriage flush and drying; one touchless in-bay automatic and one soft-touch in-bay automatic; three self-serve bays, one of them oversized for pickups with trailers, farm trucks and work vehicles; six vacuum stalls; pay stations with license plate recognition for tunnel members; and a reclaim system serving the tunnel and in-bay automatics. The tunnel and staffed areas will operate seven days a week from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., while the in-bay automatics and self-serve bays operate around the clock with card and app payment, staffed by a general manager and 2.5 full-time-equivalent attendants for a total of 3.5 FTE. The borrower will own the land and improvements. The Project is positioned as the first modern express wash in Antigo, with tunnel memberships of $19.99, $24.99 and $29.99 per month, in-bay washes from $9 to $15, and self-serve bays at timed rates, targeting winter salt removal as the primary demand driver.

Marketing and Sales Strategy

The launch is timed to the start of the winter salt season and anchored on an undercarriage-focused message: free salt-removal washes during the opening weeks and a first-month member price at the tunnel. Acquisition runs through local radio, social media and Facebook community groups, and through the county's agricultural and commercial base with fleet accounts for farm operations, contractors, utilities, county and municipal vehicles and dealerships, billed monthly. The oversized self-serve bay is marketed to truck, trailer, boat and recreational vehicle owners, including the seasonal and recreational property owners who account for much of the county's housing stock beyond its year-round households. Retention runs through card-failure recovery and a winter-weighted member communication calendar.

Amenities

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, QuickFacts, Vintage 2025 estimates, ACS 2020 to 2024 and 2022 Economic Census.

Langlade County's 2022 retail sales of $760.2 million are 2.3 times those of Taylor County on a similar household base, which identifies Antigo as a regional trade center drawing shoppers from beyond its own county. The county's 12,375 housing units against 8,881 households point to a seasonal and recreational housing stock that adds summer demand. The constraints are equally clear: a city median household income of $45,520, a county population that is flat, and 28.8 percent of county residents aged 65 or over. Those facts set the format, the price points and a membership target well below Sunbelt levels.

Wisconsin's Department of Transportation applied 332,458 tons of salt to state highways in the 2024 to 2025 winter, 9.6 tons per lane mile, at a salt cost of $31.3 million within $89.0 million of statewide winter operations, and reports an average of 452,000 tons of salt a season statewide; its 2026 fact sheet puts the statewide average at 62 inches of snow and 29 snow events a year. Those figures cover the state highway system only, before county and municipal roads. Minnesota's Department of Transportation applied 190,758 tons in the 2025 to 2026 winter across 19.8 statewide average winter events.

AAA estimates that U.S. drivers paid $15.4 billion in rust repairs caused by de-icing methods over five years, about $3 billion a year, at almost $500 per repair, and advises frequent washing with attention to the undercarriage to loosen, dissolve and neutralize road salts. In a salt-belt county seat, the undercarriage wash is the product, and the tunnel, both in-bay automatics and the self-serve bays all deliver it. The model weights volume toward the winter months and tests a mild winter in the sensitivity cases rather than assuming every winter is severe.

Competitor Number 1: Shammy Shine. This car wash and auto detailing business is located at 1564 Neva Road, Antigo, WI. Directory listings show 36 years in business; its wash format was not verified.

Competitor Number 2: Wagner Shell. This fuel station car wash is located at 709 S Superior Street, Antigo, WI, and is listed as open 24 hours.

Competitor Number 3: Kwik Trip. This convenience store car wash is located at 455 Wisconsin 64, Antigo, WI.

Competitor Number 4: Fleet Farm Car Wash. This car wash operates at the Fleet Farm store at 2511 Neva Road, Antigo, WI, on the operator's own store page.

The nearest conveyor washes are outside the city: Wash Works Car Wash and Detail Center in Rhinelander, a soft-cloth tunnel conveyor established in 2003, and Tommy's Express at 1611 Schofield Avenue in Weston, whose top single wash is priced at $24.99. Antigo's current supply is fuel-station and convenience-store washes and an established local detailer; no express tunnel with an unlimited membership program operates in town.

The format splits demand by customer. The mini tunnel serves members and commuters with speed and an undercarriage flush. The in-bay automatics serve customers who prefer touchless washing, older drivers and late-night washes. The self-serve bays serve trucks, trailers and owners who wash their own vehicles. Trade press surveys put the average in-bay automatic at about 19,000 cars a year; the model underwrites 16,000 per bay at stabilization, 16 percent below that average. Self-serve bays are modeled at $1,300 per bay per month in Year 1, rising to $1,450 at stabilization.

EPA WaterSense reports fresh water use of 30 gallons per vehicle for conveyor washes, 44.8 gallons for in-bay automatics and 15.0 gallons for self-serve bays, and notes that reclaim is often not feasible on self-serve bays because customers may discharge debris in the stalls. The Project installs reclaim on the tunnel and the in-bay automatics and not on the self-serve bays.

Wisconsin taxes car wash services, including manual, coin-operated, self-service and automatic washes, unless an exemption applies. The state rate is 5 percent and Langlade County levies the 0.5 percent county tax, for a combined 5.5 percent on wash and membership receipts. Prices are modeled exclusive of that tax, which the operator collects and remits. Wisconsin provides no exemption for equipment used in providing car wash services, so the project cost carries $60,500 of sales and use tax on the equipment package.

Tunnel members are modeled at 2.6 washes per month, reflecting winter salt exposure. A membership base of 1,000 at stabilization equals about 11 percent of Langlade County's 8,881 households counted at one membership each, and a lower share once family plans and the regional draw are considered.

Location: Wisconsin 64 corridor, Antigo, Langlade County, WI Size in SF (Gross): 5,200

Source: Marshall & Swift CoreLogic, MMCG

The land basis is an MMCG assumption for a rural commercial site. The heating and cooling line carries the winterization package that a salt-belt wash requires: in-floor heat in the tunnel and bays, boilers and freeze protection on plumbing and drains. The equipment contingency carries a tariff allowance because Section 232 duties on imported steel and aluminum have stood at 50 percent since June 4, 2025.

Loan Assumptions

Labor is a general manager at $55,000 and 2.5 FTE attendants at $15.50 per hour with a 15 percent burden, escalating 3.5 percent per year; the national median wage for cleaners of vehicles and equipment was $17.23 per hour in 2025, and the in-bay automatics and self-serve bays operate unattended. Winter heating and freeze protection is carried as a separate fixed line because it is the cost a salt-belt wash carries that a Sunbelt wash does not. Property tax is an MMCG estimate.

The Year 1 shortfall of $105,205 is funded from the financial reserve. The Project covers its debt from Year 2 and stabilizes at 1.36x.

Because the Project combines formats with different prices per car, break-even is stated in revenue. At Year 3, variable costs and card processing consume 24.7 percent of revenue, leaving a contribution of 75.3 percent against fixed operating costs of $353,104.

Year 3 revenue exceeds the 1.25x threshold by 4.3 percent. The margin is narrow in percentage terms because a rural wash carries a fixed cost base, including winter heating, on a smaller revenue line; it is the reason the format leans on unattended in-bay and self-serve revenue rather than on additional staffed tunnel capacity.

The Project holds coverage above 1.0x in every single-factor case. A mild winter is the binding risk for a salt-belt wash, reducing Year 3 coverage to 1.09x, because it removes retail and in-bay volume that does not have the membership cushion of the tunnel. The combined case of a mild winter and a weaker membership ramp reduces coverage to 0.93x and defines the downside the guarantee covers.

The determination of feasible is subject to the following conditions precedent:

The following items could not be verified from a primary source at the study date and are disclosed: the specific parcel, its zoning and its eligibility map status; Wisconsin Department of Transportation traffic counts on the Wisconsin 64 and US 45 corridors; NOAA 1991 to 2020 climate normals for Antigo; the wash formats, ages and prices of Antigo competitors; the drive time from Antigo to the nearest express tunnel; Langlade County vehicle registrations and the farm and commercial truck base; Wisconsin and nonmetropolitan May 2025 wages for cleaners of vehicles and equipment; Wisconsin Public Service or cooperative electric and natural gas tariffs; City of Antigo water and sewer rates and connection fees; rural commercial property tax rates; the current Part 5001 section for the new-business equity requirement, verified here under the predecessor rule; and any USDA B&I guaranteed loan previously made to a car wash. Equipment, building and winterization costs are MMCG estimates pending vendor and contractor quotes.

This model study applies the methodology described on MMCG's car wash feasibility study page and its USDA feasibility study practice. MMCG prepares USDA B&I, SBA and conventional car wash feasibility studies nationwide, with engagements from $4,900 and delivery in 9 to 16 business days.