If there is one thing I've learned after a decade of working and doing business in Washington, it's that most of gigs and laborers are within the three major counties of western Washington - King, Snohomish and Pierce counties.
Looking all over craigslist, the times and the social networks, it seems like we have plenty of people looking for work and plenty of people who need work done, but they seemed to be mismatched in geographic location. I remember plenty of times as a mobile mechanic in north Seattle, that most of the work was in south of Tacoma, at least at the time. When I was a painter, most of the work was in Everett and Marysville. Construction and HVAC was always in Issaqua or Auburn. This kind of mismatch was especially true when I used to temp for labor ready and similar "day labor" companies that used to liter the area. From the laborer perspective, it seems like where ever you are, the work is far away.
This is equally as disturbing from the client side. As someone who doesn't have a ton of money to spend but still needs things done, it's even harder to hire someone to do what I don't have time for, when they are coming from more than 50 miles away. That means paying for gas and the extra time, and it also usually means the person I hire will be all wound up from driving so long, especially if there was any traffic involved.
So that's why the first part of the "FLOW plan" is going to be to get people together in the same areas, as often as possible. I know from personal experience that where there are jobs, there are eager and qualified professionals who can fill those needs. More often than not, it's just bad timing and a lack of awareness that stops us from contacting each other in the same area.
This first part of the plan should both save money for buyers and help put more in the pockets of the hardcore people completing those projects.
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