North Edge: Business Financing & Community Development (formerly Arcata Economic Development Corporation)

AEDC was created in 1978 by a group of Arcata business and community leaders to help grow the city's economy through assistance to local businesses and homeowners. Today, AEDC is a 501c3 non-profit organization and a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). AEDC's mission is to provide loans and support to entrepreneurial, innovative business and community endeavors. AEDC provides financing for business opportunities in Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, Lake, Siskiyou and Trinity Counties, and sometimes Shasta County, in Northern California. 

A Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) is a private financial institution that is committed to delivering responsible, affordable lending to help low-income, low-wealth, and other disadvantaged people and communities join the economic mainstream. By financing community businesses - including small businesses, microenterprises, nonprofit organizations, commercial real estate, and affordable housing - CDFIs spark job growth and retention in hard-to serve markets across the nation. The CDFI Fund is part of the US Department of the Treasury and it offers resources and programs that invest federal dollars alongside private sector capital.