HEF Small Business Spotlight: Element 9

“HEF's loan assistance was the difference between a missed business opportunity and a transformative business experience.”

Element 9 is a New York City-based management and technology consultancy firm founded by Tamecca Seril in 2001. Element 9 leverages a unique combination of people and networks, design capabilities, and experience to formulate its clients' solutions. Common solutions include, innovating business models, web design and development, mobile applications, social media strategies, product design, content development, in addition to training & workforce development.

Ms. Seril was awarded a $2M contract from the NYC Department of Sanitation to provide shelf-stable meals for the Adult Food Access Program. To complete the contract deliverables, Ms. Seril needed short-term working capital for payroll and inventory purchase of non-perishable food and supplies. She initially reached out to traditional lenders, but she could not receive an urgent bridge loan due to their prioritization of SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program. After some further research, she contacted Harlem Entrepreneurial Fund (HEF) in May 2020. Soon after, Ms. Seril was approved for a loan and was able to obtain the critical bridge funding needed to complete the contract.

Tamecca expressed, “HEF's loan assistance was the difference between a missed business opportunity and a transformative business experience.”

The capital provided by the Harlem Entrepreneurial Fund, afforded Element 9 with the opportunity to set up a production line to effectively manage the emergency food relief contract that served thousands of New Yorkers during an unprecedented and challenging time as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.