How This Female Entrepreneur’s Determination is Helping Her Small Business Survive COVID – Lynette Sutton

Girl Contracting is a female-managed, commercial and residential construction company that was established in Pennsylvania a little over 2 years ago. We offer a personalized approach to design, building, and renovations. Our projects range from new construction and full rehabs to remodeling and additions. 

I started 13 years ago as a small Real Estate investor, buying and flipping homes. I hired all the tradesmen myself and took an interest in the details of every project. I would pull the job permits myself and I was always on-site when we had inspections. Along the way, neighboring property owners and especially women would ask if they could stop by to look at what I was doing or ask me to quote a project for them. 

COVID-19 had a substantial impact on our business as it did on most businesses. On March 19th the Pennsylvania Governor ordered all non-essential residential and commercial construction to stop. However, unlike other industries, our industry is dependent on being on the job site to build and construct. Meaning there was no option for us to pivot our business model and thus our business operations came to a complete halt. 

We have been fortunate none of our team members have contracted the virus but we have certainly felt the financial constraints due to it. The other hard part is this is our busy season, people are generally getting their tax returns about this time and thinking about their home remodeling projects. 

We applied for the SBA EIDL and PPP loan programs along with 24 other applications to various aid programs. In addition, I’ve attended close to 80 webinars from small business roundtables to the Chamber of Commerce and Small Business Development Centers. Which were centered around how to pivot your business and the aid options available to small businesses. 

Along the way, we came across the press-release for the Thryv Foundation Small Business Grant and I immediately applied. One of the aspects I appreciated most about the Thryv Foundation application was its simplicity. By this time I had already submitted several cumbersome applications to other organizations, without any certainty of funds. I applied on April 1st and we learned on April 27th that we had been awarded a grant. The Thryv Foundation grant will always remain significant to me because up until that point we hadn’t heard back from anyone else or received any other funds. 

Resources: