Who We Are
At The Blue Collar Partners, we are entrepreneurs, operators, and investors with a shared belief: service businesses deserve the same strategic tools, capital, and leadership once reserved for larger corporations. Our team brings decades of hands-on experience building, transforming, and scaling companies across industries.
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Paul Lambert The Blue Collar Partners
Managing Partner | Strategy & Operations
Paul has over 25 years of leadership as a four-time CEO, two-time founder, and private equity partner. He has executed nearly $1 billion in M&A, scale-ups, and turnarounds across industries from food safety to automotive. Known for defying the odds in post-merger growth, Paul has overseen a decade of cross industry post transaction annualized growth in excess of 24% while delivering an average ROIC exceeding 50% for partners ranging from Owner Operators to publicly traded Private Equity firms.
Paul is a avid outdoorsman, hiker, biker and Mountain Safety first responder. He holds a BSEE from Carnegie Mellon and a CSO from Wharton. As a mentor for Carnegie Mellon’s Project Olympus, you can find him coaching our next generation of leaders when not working with clients.
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Matt Duckworth The Blue Collar Partners
Partner | Financial Architect
Matt bridges operations and capital markets, guiding businesses through growth, acquisition, and transformation. He has co-founded multiple companies, served as CFO and advisor to some of the Southeast’s top-performing enterprises, and taught Financing Entrepreneurial Ventures as an adjunct professor. With experience across chemistry, manufacturing, fitness, and professional services, he has led M&A transactions delivering over 100% ROIC. Matt brings the rare combination of financial strategy and operational know-how that helps companies scale with discipline and creativity.
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Chris Coleman The Blue Collar Partners
Managing Partner | Vision & Engagement
Chris is an executive and board advisor who helps businesses build clarity and a sustainable culture. With over two decades of experience, he is adept at identifying growth drivers and implementing effective frameworks for business continuity.
Drawing from his past roles in executive leadership across technology, manufacturing, and service-focused companies, Chris has a proven track record of navigating complex scaling challenges and driving growth in businesses experiencing over 30% CAGR. He has led teams who have disrupted the food safety market by pioneering and transferring proprietary technology in chemistry, equipment, and software. He has successfully managed hundreds of shareholders, led domestic and international expansion across more than 15 countries in the Americas and EMEA, and spearheaded the exit of a technology business to a strategic buyer.
Chris's approach is centered on investing in relational capital to drive success in niche industries, empowering leaders and teams to achieve sustainable expansion and leave a lasting legacy.