Flexible, Accessible Financing Across the Business Life Cycle
CEI and its subsidiaries offer business and project financing for a wide range of purposes including working capital, equipment purchases, facilities expansion, construction, and mixed use and affordable housing real estate development.
Since its first major investment in 1979 in a value-added, community-owned fish processing facility in midcoast Maine, CEI has provided $1.39 billion to 2,831 businesses, natural resource industries, community facilities, and affordable housing in Maine, the Northeast, and throughout rural America, leveraging over $2.82 billion in high impact, sustainable economic development projects and enterprises.
CEI is committed to serving people and communities unable to access financing from traditional sources–and we don’t stop there. Our lenders, investors, business and workforce advisors, and food system experts lend their expertise, connections, and hands-on support, whatever it takes to make sure you succeed.

- Business LoansEquipment, property, construction and working capital loans up to $3 million
- Business Loans for Maine’s Coastal CountiesLoans ranging from $50,000 to $250,000 with a fixed interest rate of 5%, subject to underwriting criteria, for businesses within Maine's Coastal Counties
- Wicked Fast™ LoansStreamlined application process for loans $25,000 and under
- Sea Farm LoansFinancing for Maine's marine aquaculturists
- Renewable Energy Project FinancingExpanding access to renewable energy in rural regions and low income communities
- Community Facility FinancingStrengthening communities by supporting public facilities
- Venture CapitalInvestments ranging from under $500,000 to over $1 million for businesses in New England and the mid-Atlantic region
- New Markets Tax CreditsInvestments of $8 million to $30 million in targeted, distressed rural regions of the U.S.
- State Historic Tax CreditsSupporting mixed-use, affordable housing, and downtown redevelopment projects