Today the Outpost is thrilled to launch the Internet’s newest feature: The Humboldt Handy! You need a handy person to sort out your home problems? You need the Humboldt Handy! It’s a directory of all licensed contractors in Humboldt County, broken down by city and specialty, or license type.

Roof coming apart? Browse the roofers. All your paint peeled off? Browse the painters. Yard sucks? Browse the landscapers. Fence blown over? Browse the fencers. Etc. Again: You get continuously updated listings for every licensed contractor in the county, with contact information and license details, and sometimes even more handy information.

Now, youngsters, let me tell you about the way it used to be. Back in the day, there was a thing called “The Yellow Pages.” It was a big book printed every year on cheap, ugly newsprint and, amazing as this may sound, distributed to every person who possessed a home telephone, which was basically everyone.

The wonderful thing about these “Yellow Pages” was that they offered you an at-a-glace list of absolutely everyone doing a particular kind of work in your community. Just for instance: Plumbers. When your plumbing exploded you pulled out the Yellow Pages and started going down the list until you found one who could come to your place, like, now.

There is no great way to accomplish that today! You’re stuck with Google searches, or hoping your friends might know someone, or asking Reddit for advice. Until now! Now you have the Humboldt Handy. Find it down below on our homepage, or Google “the Humboldt Handy,” or whatever else you want to do. It’s always there for you.

Now, everyone can hear this next part, but to the contractors: You can have your business featured on the Humboldt Handy, and that’ll allow you to add a bunch of extra stuff to your listing — photos, websites, your Instagram account, a little explanation or what your company specializes in … lots of stuff! Check out how we’ve tarted up the page for Will Power, a local electrician, and you’ll get some idea of what you can do with this. Featured businesses appear at the top of the listings, and you get all that cool stuff along with it.

How do you do it? Find the page for your business on The Humboldt Handy and click that link that says “Claim this business!” You’ll be taken to a form where you can fill out the details, add some photos, etc. Drop us a line if you have any issues.

This is an advertising feature, but why is it also good for you, the consumer? Because contracting services are a seller’s market in Humboldt County these days, and tons of businesses aren’t accepting new clients. People who advertise on the Humboldt Handy presumably have their shingle out and are awaiting your call.

OK! The Humboldt Handy, everyone!