Jerome Emanuel
Founder & Developer
Groundwork.
Former Chief Lending Officer &
Business Development Director
Community Lending
Business Development
Institutional Operations
Software Development
Elmira, NY
Founder Experience
Domain-driven technology shaped by community-lending experience.
Jerome Emanuel has worked at the intersection of community development, small-business lending, and entrepreneurship. As a former Chief Lending Officer at a CDFI credit union in upstate New York, he saw how preparation gaps affect entrepreneurs, counselors, and lending teams — and how difficult it can be for organizations to provide consistent readiness support with limited capacity.
Before his work in community lending, Jerome spent almost twenty years in the automotive industry, including sixteen years in sales and general-management roles involving inventory, budgeting, financial statements, hiring, and marketing for franchised dealerships. That operating background informs Groundwork.'s focus on practical business preparation and the information lenders need to evaluate independently.
Groundwork. grew from that institutional and community-development perspective: partner organizations define the program and support model, participants retain agency over their information and relationships, and lenders continue to apply their own judgment, policies, and underwriting standards.
Operating Model
How an Organization Begins with Groundwork.
Groundwork. is not a public self-service platform. Access begins with an organization relationship and an agreed implementation path.
1. ConversationWe learn about the organization, its programs, the people it serves, and the outcomes it is working toward.
2. Fit and scopeTogether we define the intended program, responsibilities, enabled workflows, information visibility, and support model.
3. AgreementThe parties establish terms, approved use, expectations, and the path to platform access.
4. ImplementationGroundwork. prepares the agreed experience and works with the organization to orient its authorized team.
5. Authorized accessApproved staff receive role-appropriate access within their organization and program scope.
6. Participant invitationAuthorized staff invite entrepreneurs to participate through the applicable relationship, permission, and consent flow.
Community Experience
Community Leadership & Service
Cornell Cooperative Extension Board of DirectorsElected board member — nominated by community peers through the Natural Leaders Initiative
Southern Tier Regional Economic Development CouncilAppointed by the Governor's Office of New York to serve on the Executive Committee
NAACP Economic Development ChairAppointed to the Executive Committee in January 2020, serving as Chair of Economic Development
Empire State Poverty Reduction Initiative (ESPRI)Member of the Business and Economic Development workgroup
Chemung County Entrepreneurial Task ForceInstrumental member focused on helping Downtown Elmira businesses succeed through education and mentorship
NYS 76West Clean Energy CompetitionNominated to serve as a Business Mentor for New York's clean energy startup competition
United Way Loaned ExecutiveSelected to represent Chemung County as a Loaned Executive for the United Way
Elmira Entrepreneurs GroupCo-builder of the local entrepreneurs group with Incubator Works — focused on turning business ideas into reality through education and mentorship
Operating Principles
Founder-led. Domain-driven.
Groundwork. is founder-led and shaped by direct experience in lending, business development, community leadership, and small-business operations. Jerome's involvement keeps product decisions connected to the responsibilities and practical realities of mission-driven partner organizations.
Partnership conversations establish fit, scope, implementation expectations, enabled workflows, and support responsibilities. The platform is designed to support professional relationships and structured preparation — not replace counselors, institutional controls, or lender judgment.
Clear Responsibilities
Preparation Support with Clear Responsibility Boundaries
What Groundwork. supportsGroundwork. helps participants organize information, work through readiness activities, and share permitted information within approved organization relationships.
What remains with the lenderGroundwork. does not independently verify all participant-provided information, underwrite loans, approve or deny applications, or make credit decisions. Each lender remains responsible for its own review, verification, policies, compliance, and decisions.
Individual Product Feedback
"You took something complicated and made it easy. I don't think it gets better than that."
Eric Krohn — Director of Business Incubation Programming, Koffman Southern Tier Incubator, Binghamton University
Individual product feedback; no institutional endorsement or lending outcome is implied.