New fund will assist Nuu-chah-nulth businesses seeking large loans

Officials with the Nuu-chah-nulth Economic Development Corporation (NEDC) can now start assisting some businesses with grand and costly plans. Established in 1984, the NEDC is an Aboriginal Financial Institution (AFI) which has been providing loans to small- and medium-sized Indigenous businesses throughout Vancouver Island. Earlier this month it was announced that $10 million had been advanced to the NEDC through the Indigenous Growth Fund (IGF), a new initiative created and managed by the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association (NACCA). NEDC’s general manager Al Little said the new funding announcement came at just the right time. “Our cash flow was exhausted when the additional $10 million became available,” he said. Little said the NEDC typically hands out between 200-300 loans each year. “We’re usually doing about $12 million a year in financing,” Little said, adding those loans were all considered small to medium in nature. Read the full story on the Ha-Shilth-Sa website.