Question on Organization Chart/Structure for the SBA Lenders or search funders with experience scaling location-based business strategies... beginning with some personal context.

Quick Background: I am trying to set up a "Permanent Capital Model" where I buy and hold businesses for the long-term, developing skills as a business owner and scaling my team and our targets over the years ideally into several verticals (would be the dream). I have a background in PE after several years at funds in NYC, and in 2023 quit my job and made my first acquisition -- SBA 7(a) loan funded. We purchased a non-medical pet services business and I plan to continue to acquire these facilities over the coming years to set up reliable FCF before adding other business verticals that have more of an outbound/sales shape.

Org Chart - Thoughts on C-Corp: It is clear that I want to keep all of the capital/lifeblood inside of the system in a tax-optimized way, and that we have a longterm view on our positions in business. To me this suggests going for a C-Corp holding structure for the operating businesses as the master-entity at the top, and having that C-Corp own the operating businesses (say they are LLCs) that are all pass-through entities in terms of tax up to the C-Corp. This way I can still have individual business units for each location and have employment contracts at each entity, business risk quarantined to a certain extent at each location, etc., and still have the money flow up to the top at the C-Corp level who will decide what the next best use of cash is in realtime. I like that the cash is not taxed as income (like in a partnership/LLC) and I don't mind the concept of double-taxation on distributions because I have no intention of making distributions anytime soon and my investors are of the same mind.

Question on Org Chart: To the lenders -- is it possible to achieve this kind of a "multi-layered structure" and still do so with SBA loan vehicles? I frankly don't care what level the debt sits at whether you want to load it deal-by-deal at the LLC level, or if you want to continuously resize it at the C-Corp holdCo level -- so long as we get the funding. I understand I need to continue to sign the personal guarantee until kingdom come and am prepared to do so.

I have received a lot of friction from my current SBA lender, and my handler (candidly) doesn't really understand or have experience with the org chart decision of changing from LLCs or an S-Corp into a multi-layered C-Corp holding company, but he is coming around to understanding why I think we want to do this and why it makes sense when you're taking a 10-year+ view on your structure upfront.

Is there any ban against this or any reason this can't be done? Are their any lenders with experience achieving this kind of structure? I don't really understand the friction (assume ownership is exactly the same in terms of who the members/stockholders are for the LLCs & for the C-Corp) especially when you trace it to the top and see the same name you were lending to and the same guy willing to do the PG -- this is just tax optimization / the organizational structure we think we want to go with.

If for some reason SBA lenders/loans won't do this -- is there any advice on getting this done? Is this just a bad idea and you should go around collecting several LLCs or S-Corps if you want the self-employment tax optimization? Or is there a time when yes this does make sense, but you need a "commercial" debt partner to make it work? Or is this kind of move really only seen within PE. I feel like the friction I have gotten in screening this idea with lenders has been confusing to me and I'm looking for some answers...

Thank you for your time and consideration!