Need a journeyman electrician or plumber? $6,000 flat, paid the day he starts.
I'm Jacob. I work one role at a time for one shop at a time. You tell me what you're filling, I go and find the person, I check the license against the state record, and I talk to them properly before you ever see a name.
You see two or three people, not forty resumes.
If you hire techs
Built for shops running 10 to 50 people. If you're a two-man operation I'm probably too expensive, and if you're 300 people you already have a recruiter.
Front Range Trades started in 2026. I'm not going to show you client logos or a placement count, because I don't have them yet.
What I'll show you instead: the exact questions I ask every candidate, the state license number for anyone I send you so you can check it yourself, and terms where the money moves when the work does. Being new is why the terms are this good.
- $500 opens the search, and it comes straight off the $6,000. If I don't put two qualified candidates in front of you inside 14 days of your written role spec, you get it back
- The other $5,500 on the day he starts. Not before. If nobody starts, there is no second invoice
- Flat, not a percentage — no penalty for paying your people well
- 90-day replacement. If he leaves or you let him go for performance inside 90 days, I fill it again at no additional fee. If I can't put a replacement in front of you within 30 days, half the fee comes back
- Electrical and plumbing licenses checked against Colorado DORA's public record. I send you the license number with the profile so you can check it yourself
For comparison: a contingency recruiter typically charges 15–30% of first-year salary — $11,250 to $22,500 on a $75k tech, per hire.
Fee range: ISG Partners · Second Talent
The day you sign, your shop goes on my do-not-touch list and stays there for as long as we're working together, plus twelve months after. If one of your guys comes to me on his own, I tell him no and I tell you he came.
That's clause 9 of the agreement, not just a line on a website.
“I can just post it on Indeed.”
You can, and you should. Keep the ad up. The difference is who it reaches: an ad reaches the people who are looking, and most good journeymen in this town aren't looking, they're working. They'll answer a text, and they won't fill in an application.
The other difference is the sorting. A Denver electrician ad pulls a stack of applications and somebody has to call every one, confirm the license, and find out three of them wanted twelve dollars an hour more than you pay. That's the part you're paying me for. If your own ad lands the right person first, tell me in writing and you owe me nothing.
How it actually works
You tell me the role
Trade, level, license needs, pay band, start date. In writing, and a text message counts.
I go and find them
I work the Colorado license roll and the Denver trades directly, against your specific opening. This is not a job ad and it is not a resume database.
I talk to every one of them
By text, because they're on a job site. Same questions every time, and they're published below.
I check the license
Electrical and plumbing go against Colorado DORA's public record. HVAC is licensed by the municipality in Colorado rather than by the state, so for HVAC I check the EPA 608 card and the work history instead. If it doesn't check out, they don't go forward.
You interview, you decide, you hire
Straight onto your payroll. The fee runs the day he starts, and the 90-day replacement applies from that date.
The questions I ask every single candidate
No competitor publishes these. There's nothing clever in them, and that's rather the point — the value is that someone actually asks, and writes down the answers.
- What trade, and how many years?
- What licenses and certs? Journeyman, master, apprentice hours, EPA 608.
- Residential, commercial, or new construction?
- What zip are you in, and how far will you drive?
- What are you making now?
- What number gets you to move?
- When could you start?
Each one gets scored on four things — skill, availability, how realistic the pay expectation is, and how fast they come back to me. You get the scores and my honest read, including when someone is only average.
If you work in the trades
I'm not a job board and I'm not going to bury you in applications. We talk by text, so you're not stuck on a call between service stops. I ask what you're making, what number would actually move you, and how far you'll drive, and then I only put you forward where it's a real fit.
- Your name and current employer stay confidential until you tell me otherwise
- No resume black hole. A real person reads it, and that person owns the company
- Only real, current openings — a specific role a shop has asked me to fill
Not a fee, not a cut of your wage, not ever. Contractors pay me.
Who runs this
Jacob Hervey. Denver. I answer my own messages, and every tradesperson on the list has talked to me directly.
If you're a contractor, you'll be dealing with me rather than an account manager who rotates out every quarter. That's a genuine advantage while I'm small and I'd rather say so than pretend to be bigger than I am.
Questions I get asked
Is this a staffing agency or a PEO?
Neither. I do permanent placement only. The person you hire goes straight onto your own payroll. I don't employ them, I don't mark up their hours, and I'm not in the relationship after they start.
What does it cost to hire someone through you?
$6,000 flat per hire. $500 opens the search and comes off the total, and the remaining $5,500 runs on the day he starts. Flat, not a percentage, so there's no penalty for paying your people well.
What happens if nobody good turns up?
If I haven't put two qualified candidates in front of you within 14 days of your written role spec, you get the $500 back. If you interview people and hire none of them, you owe nothing further.
Do tradespeople pay anything?
No. Not a fee, not a cut of their wage, not ever. Contractors pay me.
Is there a guarantee?
Ninety days. If the hire leaves or is let go for performance inside 90 days of starting, I fill the role again at no additional fee. If I can't put a replacement in front of you within 30 days, half the fee comes back.
Will you come back and poach my people later?
No. Your shop goes on my do-not-touch list from the day you sign, for as long as we work together plus twelve months after. If one of your people approaches me, I turn them down and I tell you they came.
How do you check licenses?
Electrical and plumbing licenses are checked against Colorado DORA's public records, and I send you the license number so you can check it yourself. HVAC is licensed by the municipality in Colorado rather than by the state, so for HVAC I verify the EPA 608 card and employer history instead.
What should I be paying?
I publish the real Denver numbers rather than guess at them: what Denver trades actually pay — median, top-quarter and top-10% hourly rates for electricians and plumbers, straight from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey.
What areas do you cover?
Denver, Aurora, Lakewood, Arvada, Westminster, Thornton, Littleton, Centennial and the wider Front Range.