By Jim Hunt for the News and Journal
A few years ago, I was looking for someone to clean the gutters at my house and I asked one of
my friends if he knew anyone who did that kind of work. He said that he had just had his
cleaned and gave me the name of a young fellow who did his work. In younger years, I would
have risked life and limb and completed the job myself, but as I have gotten older, the thought
of doing this type of job was at the bottom of my list. He came by the following week and did a
great job cleaning the gutters. When he was finished, I asked him if he could install a mount for
a flat screen television that I had bought. He said that he could but was so busy that if would be
a couple months before he could get to it. I was so disappointed because I thought I had finally
found a trusted guy who could do some of the minor repairs around my house.
I’ve learned that in today’s world, finding a trusted handyman for household jobs can be a
daunting task, from the scarcity of skilled professionals to the high demand for their services. It
is with this in mind, that I was excited to learn that a new program was being introduced into
the United States that is being used by millions of homeowners in 18 other countries to deliver
services with over a 96% satisfaction rating. Similar to services like Uber, Door Dash and others,
this program uses technology to deliver needed handyman services performed by licensed,
local professionals. I recently spoke with Justin Steinbugl of the IGS Handyman Program, for an
episode of the Amazing Cities and Towns Podcast and learned several interesting facts about
why handyman services are so valuable.
Justin explained that over 81% of homebuyers are hit with a significant, unexpected repair
within the first year of ownership and that 63% of employed Americans are unable to cover a
$500 emergency expense. Having a professional handyman responding to a call, often fixes the
problem that might take weeks for a larger contractor to even be able to give an estimate. And
the anxiety of unexpected hits to a household budget can delay work being done, while
gathering the funds for the repair. The IGS Handyman Program operates on an affordable
monthly fee which allows the homeowner to complete the repair without an unexpected hit to
their budget.
I asked Justin, how the IGS Handyman Program ensures that the handyman is someone they
can trust, and he said that they partner with cities and towns to make sure that every
handyman is fully licensed by the city and follows any rules and regulations of the city. The
program also supports and encourages local entrepreneurs to build and develop their
handyman businesses, thereby increasing to local government’s tax base. In addition, the IGS
Handyman Program, “Golden Hammer Award” encourages professionalism and skill from the
network of handymen throughout the United States.
The next big question was when homeowners in West Virginia can expect to see the IGS
Handyman Program in their city or town. I was pleased to hear that they have already begun signing up cities and that St. Albans, WV and Logan, WV are the first to be enrolled in the program.