Programs
and Initiatives
Empowering Asian Minnesotans through Knowledge, skills, and access to wealth-building opportunities.
We provide an integrated suite of economic development services and arts & cultural programing. Our programs and initiatives include:
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Asset Building & Financial Empowerment
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Small Business Development
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Arts & Cultural Placemaking
Our initiatives include the Little Mekong cultural destination corridor to foster Southeast Asian arts and entrepreneurs. And cooperative development to increase property ownership by local small businesses as a preservation and anti-displacement strategy.
We serve clients and promote our programs through separate websites and social media platforms:
Small business development and financial empowerment: yobizmo.com
Art & cultural programming and services for artists, performers, and creators: XiaGalleryCafe.com
The Little Mekong Cultural District and the Night Market: LittleMekong.com
Arts and Cultural Placemaking
In 2011 we began branding St. Paul’s University Avenue Asian business corridor in the Frogtown and Rondo neighborhoods. We started calling it Little Mekong in order to leverage SE Asian art, culture, food, and entertainment to foster culture preservation, support and prevent displacement of small businesses, and build financial sustainability for the district. Through this initiative, we have created public art, improved storefront facades, created public spaces, branded and marketed Little Mekong.
Visit XiaGalleryCafe.com for information about and to participate in AEDA's arts and cultural programming. Visit LittleMekong.com to learn more the Little Mekong cultural district of Saint Paul.
Asset Development, Wealth Building & Financial Empowerment
AEDA provides financial education, coaching, and credit-building loans and other financial products to businesses and individuals seeking to build their financial capabilities and increase their wealth assets.
AEDA provides financial education, coaching, and credit-building loans and other financial products to businesses and individuals seeking to build their financial capabilities and increase their wealth assets.
Inspired by Minnesota’s Southeast Asian traditions, in 2013 AEDA launched the first Little Mekong Night Market in a parking lot. By 2019, the annual weekend event had grown to four city blocks and attracted 30,000 visitors. To date the yearly street market festival has earned an estimated $5 million for vendors and artists. AEDA’s Little Mekong creative placemaking initiatives have created new voices, generated new perceptions, and empowered new stories that authentically connect to the neighborhood.
When light rail was built, it promised opportunities to foreground the cultural diversity and economic potential of St. Paul’s Frogtown and Rondo. AEDA works to make that promise real. AEDA and the Asian businesses that gave life to Little Mekong over four decades continue to celebrate and leverage Southeast Asian Minnesotan cultures and add to the rich narratives of our neighborhoods and state. To advance equitable development along the LRT Green Line, and further the successes of AEDA’s first 15 years, AEDA will build the Little Mekong Cooperative Market at 422 University Avenue West.
Little Mekong Market Cooperative
Small Business Development
AEDA provides workshop training, small loans, and 1:1 technical assistance (TA) to start and grow small businesses. Our training emphasizes essential business planning, operation, marketing, financial management, and recordkeeping. Our lending serves clients who have limited or no access to financial products and services. Since 2018 AEDA has served more than 300 Asian entrepreneurs with training, TA services, and lending.
Are you interested in receiving AEDA's small business development services? Visit and sign up on AEDA's client web portal: YOBIZMO.COM