Tom McGrath speaks with Lynette Sutton, managing partner of Girl Concrete, a union contractor specializing in structural and site concrete. Sutton shares how she moved from reproductive biology into construction, built a company rooted in local hiring, and developed a construction-inspired financial literacy book for young adults.
Girl Concrete is a self-performing contractor whose workforce is approximately 98 percent from the greater Philadelphia region.
Sutton describes her path from a master’s degree in reproductive biology and work on HIV and STD efforts in sub-Saharan Africa to home renovation, real estate, and construction.
She founded Girl Concrete in 2022 after seeing the infrastructure investment ahead and recognizing an opportunity in concrete contracting.
In a male-dominated industry, the company built credibility by putting its own crews on projects and letting completed jobs serve as references.
Sutton sees community impact as part of the work itself: local people should have the chance to work on and benefit from the region’s growth.
Girl Concrete partners with Hopeworks in Camden and Kensington to support young people’s training in street mapping and construction.
Sutton’s forthcoming book, Concrete Wealth: The Next Generation’s Guide to Financial Strength, uses construction metaphors to explain money foundations, saving, investing, budgeting, credit, cash flow, and entrepreneurship.
Sutton says Girl Concrete grew from $6,900 in initial gross revenue to nearly $20 million, and hopes the book helps young people see that building wealth is possible for them, too.
She describes the Satell Institute’s approach as finding nonprofits whose missions align with a business and making a lasting commitment, rather than waiting to be asked or simply writing a check.
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