VIDEO: Need a handyman? How about an off-duty firefighter.
Hidrent is a New Haven company launched by the tv show “Shark Tank.” The premise is simple — homeowners who need a safe, trustworthy and reliable handyman or woman can hire an off-duty firefighter.
Dave Heimbach came up with the idea when his brother-in-law, a firefighter, was working on Heimbach’s house in Chicago. His brother-in-law used an app to get a contractor in, and then said that firefighters often do similar work when they’re off-duty.
“The homeowners will have an app, the firefighters will have an app on their phone,” he said. “As soon as the homeowner submits a project, every firefighter that’s within a radius of that person’s home will get notified. And the first firefighter to, you know, think they can do that job, they’ll accept it.”