Oct. 20, 2025

Inspector in a Box

Inspector in a Box
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Season 1

Indigenous communities have struggles in maintaining the Housing needs for their community. Common issues are Housing Managers are overburdened and under-resourced, this model is unsustainable. But despite the countless programs and funding available, many communities remain stuck in crisis mode. Inspector in a Box is a practical, tech-enabled program that provides the tools, training, and capacity building. This program was created to fill a major gap. Inspector in a Box, changes that.

ASharpe Outlook is broadcast live Mondays at 8AM PT on K4HD Radio - Hollywood Talk Radio (www.k4hd.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com). ASharpe Outlook TV Show is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).

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WEBVTT

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This program is designed to provide general information with regards

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to the subject matters covered. This information is given with

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the understanding that neither the hosts, guests, sponsors or station

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are engaged in rendering any specific and personal medical, financial,

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legal counseling, professional service, or any advice.

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You should seek the services.

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Of competent professionals before applying or trying any suggested ideas.

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Hello and thank you for tuning in to a Sharp

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Outlook on p for HD Radio and Talk or TV.

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I am ANGELA Sharp your host. Our arm chair discussions

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with industry experts will give you the steps, tools and

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information to be successful in business and to prepare you

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to be your best self. Hello and welcome to a

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Sharp Outlook. Today we're going to have a very exciting

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discussion on the topic of Indigenous communities and their housing

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departments and meeting the needs of the community members. And

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today's title is Inspector in a Box and when my

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guest joins, we will be discussing what is in the box.

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Indigenous communities have struggles in maintaining the housing for their

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community members. Common issues are housing managers are overburdened and

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under resourced, often forced to do the work of multiple

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departments alone. That model is unsustainable. The solution to these

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common issues is what we will be discussing today. We

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want to bring you sustainable solutions to your communities. But

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despite the countless programs and funding announcements, many communities remain

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stuck and in crisis mode. And that's where Inspector in

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a Box will come in and be able to make

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things so much better for you. It is a practical,

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tech enabled program that provides Indigenous communities with the tools, training,

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and capacity building. This program was created to fill a

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major gap. Many Indigenous communities lack access to qualified inspectors,

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cost estimators, or the internal capacity to manage repairs, renovations

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and retrofits. The result misfunding, delayed projects and unsafe homes.

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Inspector in a Box changes that. It delivers a ready

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to deploy system that empowers communities to take control of

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their housing programs. The program itself was created to fill

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that gap, and it will deliver it ready to deploy

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system that empowers communities to take control of their housing

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programs without relying on costly external consultants. Through hands on

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training and easy to use technology, local candidates are equipped

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to complete full housing expections, generate class beat cost estaments,

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create scopes of work and photo documentation, identify energy retrofute

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fit opportunities, prepare funding applications, conduct building condition assessments, and

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become their own businesses. It's not a service to do

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the work for the Housing department, but to provide scalable,

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sustainable and community driven housing solutions. Inspector in a Box

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is a capacity building model. By training local candidates and

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leveraging user friendly systems, communities gain the power to manage

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housing projects independently and effectively. Inspector in a Box is

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a cutting edge solution designed to build housing capacity within

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Indigenous communities in Canada and the United States. This is

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such an incredible topic. I would like to invite Stan

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Zachary Knight, who is our guest, to talk about this

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impressive project and product that is available for Indigenous communities.

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Hello Stan, good morning Angela. Thank you for having me today.

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Well, I'm going to read your bio here. You are

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a proud member of the Opaskoyak Free Nation in Northern Manitoba.

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You grew up witnessing the direct impact of substandard housing

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in indigenous communities that experience has stayed with you throughout

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your life and inspired a career committed real change. The

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journey has taken you through diverse roles our CMP officer,

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building supply store manager, insurance adjuster, and certified home inspector,

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all of which gave you deep practical understanding of the

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housing challenges that face Indigenous people. But despite the countless

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programs and funding announcements, many communities remained stuck in crisis mode.

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Two years ago, you made a conscious decision to fully

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dedicate energy and talents to Indigenous housing solutions. You relocated

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your family to British Columbia and immersed yourself in Indigenous

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housing ecosystem. It didn't take long to see a common group.

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Housing managers are overburdened and under resource, often forced to

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do the work of multiple departments. That is unsustainable, as

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I mentioned in the description, and it's part of the

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idea for something better. Zachary Knight Enterprises Limited with one

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mission to create scalable, sustainable and community driven housing solutions.

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Inspector in a Box isn't just a service as a

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capacity building model, and I would like to talk about

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Inspector in a Box. So what gave you that idea.

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Yeah, thank you.

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Well.

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One of the things like when we first moved out

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to BC, we always understood there was issues with indigenous

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housing and just the same consistency of poor products, poor design,

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poor construction methods, predatory nature contractors. And when we came

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out to BC, we believed that we had to be

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involved within the First Nation organization or Indigenous community organizations

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to be impactful in the role. So I took positions

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within various housing departments, and I saw consistency in the programs.

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It was the fact that housing departments are just they're understaffed,

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they're poorly trained, they don't have the resources or the

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capacity to actually move housing programs forward in a more

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reactive nature. Of the position they spend most of their

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days is putting out fires and not really moving real

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housing programs forward. So we kind of came up with

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the idea that, all right, let's make something that moves

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inspections and gets housing repairs moving forward, but let's do

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it in a more autonomous nature where we don't further

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burden a housing manage or a housing department with babysitting

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a program. So we came up with the idea that

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we offer inspector in a box. We provide all the

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training necessary to do the work, to do the inspections

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and do the scopes of work, costs estimates, and energy

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rebate programming and funding applications. But the nation or the

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community maintains the autonomy and the sovereignty of that process.

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So the process that we've come up with is the

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community identifies the candidate they want to train, they give

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us the initial list of thirty houses they want to inspect,

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and we take it from there. We trained the candidate

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to do the home inspections and do the work, and

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within the first three months we hand over thirty complete inspections.

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And then in those inspections, we identify what's wrong with

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the house, what it to fix it, and the steps

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needed to actually do the repairs. And then we asked

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the community, Okay, we've completed your inspections. We're in the

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process of training your candidate to fully assume the role

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that we are doing for this short inter process, and

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they we ask them to identify five or ten units

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that they want to start repairs on, and we actually

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do the funding applications to seek and secure the funding

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to get those renovations started, So.

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This kind of supports local job creation. Also, I mean

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it can foster intergenerational wealth and ensure more more housing

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dollars stay in the community. So it's more than just

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you going in there Mike getting I don't probably don't

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get the little hammer out and things like that. But

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you know, you're not just going in there fixing the problems.

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You're training people there in the community to be able

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to do this long term.

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Yeah, that's the whole idea of the whole program is

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like to maintain ownership and sovereignty of the process. And

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so we like, even though I'm indigenous, Like I'm indigenous

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from Northern Manitoba, I don't understand Inuit culture. I'm not

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from it, like the Inuit culture. I'm not from the

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BC Indigenous cultures, Meti culture. So even being indigenous, I

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shouldn't be in the role of a housing manager making

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those decisions on what's a culturally relevant, relevant solution to

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my community. So what we're trying to do is provide

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the tools and then I identify a local candidate that

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can bring that culture and history into the mix and

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provide those answers. But we just provide the tools for

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them to be able to achieve the results.

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That's incredible. I mean, I've worked with Indigenous communities in

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several capacities, and one of the things that I'm aware

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of is the housing department and the fact that just

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being able to establish self determination and economic empowerment and

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building the future for you know, members of the indigenous

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community is just an incredible idea. I mean, a lot

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of people go in and they provide services, but they

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don't leave the knowledge they're in the community, so it's

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just a constant, you know, outlay of money outside of

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the community, so it doesn't help to build that community.

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And you know, with the Inspector in the Box, you're

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you're not only helping the members that need their houses

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worked on, but you are changing lives because you're creating

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opportunities for jobs and that those people in the community

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that are being paid to maintain those homes and and

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now their families are going to learn, you know, different skills.

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I don't know what all skills are involved. I haven't

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had to repair a house, so I'm not sure everything

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that's involved. But tell me more about you know, this

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Inspector in the Box, it's you say that it's scalable,

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so you can just go out to different communities.

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Yes, So the idea is we actually train a community

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member to take to do the work and take over

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the role. And like the whole idea behind the process

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is that we work ourselves out of the job and

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so eventually that the local candidate becomes that person that

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does the work. But we when we started this whole

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process and talking to Indigenous communities across Canada and getting

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their feedback about the program and some of the gaps

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in what we were offering, we actually started looking at

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the entire indigenous construction economy in terms of just specifically

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for new construction for houses and renovation repair of houses,

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and we wanted to actually set a valuation for that

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ecosystem and see how much money goes into that stream

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of funding and kind of what the social impacts of

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that would be. And so there's no hard and fast reports,

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so it was all empirical data we gathered from different

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organizations and community groups. We set a valuation about two

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billion dollars in Canada goes into the indigenous construction economy

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for new construction and renovation repair and right now eighty

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to ninety percent of that actually leaves in the pockets

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and consultants and contractors who have no vested interest in

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the economic development of those communities that they're working with.

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And so we started looking at that and saying, well,

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what can we do to change that. How can we

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retain more of that wealth within the indigenous community and

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bolster the economy of that community. And so we looked

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at it and there was three aspects that we kind

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of identified that we wanted to focus on with our

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Inspector in the Box program. One is education, so we've

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in twenty twenty six we're going to be launching an

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Indigenous scholarship program for four year degree programs as well

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as two year trade programs to really bring about that

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educational component that's missing. Their aspect is an Indigenous Business

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incubator because Indigenous people when they start a business, they

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have unique aspects that they have to address within starting

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a business because like taxation issues is a big issue

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on Indigenous even advertising social media, like we we have

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a different and target audience, and our target audience lives

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in different formats and where the general non Indigenous public lives.

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Educate our or financing, banking kind of just all the

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understanding all the aspects that takes to stand up a

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business on indigenous community. So we started focusing on developing

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an Indigenous business incubator, and then the third and final

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step was capital investment. We actually wanted to focus our

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capital investment efforts into asking the question do you have

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community supports? And if you have community support, you're ninety

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nine percent more likely to succeed as a business. We

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didn't want to be tied to that that agile question

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what's your credit score, because that's been a really detrimental

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question to Indigenous communities across Canada and the US. So

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we're focusing capital investment just to say, yeah, do you

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have community support? And if you have community supports, we

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will help. We'll do our best to help you. And

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those are the three aspects that we're diverting a lot

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of our revenue firm, our Inspector in the Box program

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into those three to fully to fully grow the Indigenous

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economy across Canada and US.

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Yeah, yeah, that's really important, especially if they're going to

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be starting businesses. Besides knowing their trade, that they're going

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to be doing, just like you said, meeting all of

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those regulatory requirements to be able to stay in business

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and not being afraid or setting up a nice you know,

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bookkeeping system for them. I know, one of the projects

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that I worked with was going out and doing financial

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literacy training and indigenous communities here in the US, and

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that's been going on since two thousand seven, two thousand

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and eight, two thousand and nine, and like five years.

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We spent you know, having conferences going we did train

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to trainers, so we had trainers out there just you know,

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going all over the country you know, at the same

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time and just hitting all of the communities and doing

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financial literacy training and train the trainers. And it also

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helped for those that are getting for capita. They have

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to take financial literacy before they're able to get those funds,

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and so they understand what to do with them and

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they're keeping more of the money instead of making bad decisions.

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So yeah, this is really getting you know, better by

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the minute here, Stan, You're really thinking about this whole aspect,

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and that's that's really incredible. And so I understand your

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reasoning for wanting to use this inspector in the box

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and instead of bringing other professionals in, like you said,

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contractors and they come in the cost is generally pretty high,

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and then they walk away and there's no no education,

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no knowledge, and so you're constantly having to you know,

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bring them in and knowledge. As I had another guest

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on knowledge is power, and so you're wanting to In fact,

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it's probably more valuable than just ash at the time

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because you retain knowledge for a long time and you're

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able to just continue to keep going. And how does

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inspector in the Box change things for Indigenous housing professionals.

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Well, it's the biggest thing is we retain, like we

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develop ownership of the whole process, so we're allowed to

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actually say, Okay, this is how we want to fix

255
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our house, this is the material we want to put

256
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into fixing our house, as opposed to a general contractor

257
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coming into the community and dictating, yeah, this is how

258
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we're going to fix it, and these are the materials

259
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we're going to use. And it reduces that reliance on

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the contractor having the say and kind of doing supply

261
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and labor at the same time, because if you separate

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the two supply and labor, if you control what materials

263
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you purchase and you control who you hire to do

264
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the work, you can actually reduce the cost of that

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whole process by fifteen percent. Just we're just splitting that

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those two bustances apart. Right. The other thing is it

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basically allows you to have sovereignty of your decision making process. Okay,

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this is how we want to do things, and this

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is the process we're going to follow. And the final

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part of that is it retains that wealth back in

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the community because now you can decide, Okay, well I

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can hire Jim the plumber to do just the plumbing

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aspect of it, because he's local and he spends the community.

274
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But the long term vision of the whole thing is

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we create self safe and healthy homes and we we

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strongly believe that homes are a huge determined determinant of

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health and success in communities because like like, like, can

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can you imagine where and the elders discharge for my

279
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health facility, they have respiratory illnesses and there's they're sent

280
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home to recover and send them back home to a

281
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house that's that's got mold and it's got bacteria and

282
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infectious diseases within how and stuff like that. It's not

283
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a safe environment, and yet you send them home to recover. Basically,

284
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we're just exposing them to a higher risk factor and

285
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then they're going to get sicker, and then they're going

286
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to go back into the house system. Right, So that

287
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just increases the cost to the community for those health costs.

288
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Plus it endangers the elderly or the people that have

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chronic respiratory illnesses and stuff like that. But the other

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aspect of it is a success. We can build the

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biggest and best school in the world, spend fifty million

292
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dollars on educational facility, higher the greatest teachers, and then

293
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we send our kids to the school and expect them

294
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to succeed. But in reality, they're waging a war trying

295
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to survive their own home environment because it's unhealthy. There's

296
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pests and vermin and mold and everything else, and it's

297
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unheeded and it's poorly maintain all that stuff. So they

298
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spend eighteen hours in that environment trying to survive that,

299
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and then when they go to school, we think they're

300
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prime for success, when in reality it's just a respite

301
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for the war they're fighting at home. How are they

302
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supposed to succeed in that kind of environment. So buy

303
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to safe, healthy house. Then all the other things that

304
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we're providing in the other context of education and health,

305
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those actually have a chance to succeed and make a

306
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difference if they come from health a safe, healthy home.

307
00:22:39.799 --> 00:22:44.000
Well. Using hands on training and easy to use technology,

308
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candidates are equipped to do what types of services.

309
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They can do. So at its core, inspector in a

310
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box is data collection, and that's a really important piece

311
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is not to not just the home inspections. It's collecting

312
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data of all different aspects of a home. So we

313
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can collect the data that's needed to do the home inspection,

314
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we can collect the data that's needed to do asset management,

315
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energy rebate programming, and energy like all different types of

316
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other data that is needed to understand the housing environment.

317
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The results are like scopes of work costs, US Class

318
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B cost estimates, energy rebate programming, funding applications, Like there's

319
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a lot of one off funding that's available, Like say

320
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like in a community, there's one off funding that you

321
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can access to fix ten ten roofs, and our data

322
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collection process and it enables you to actually collect the

323
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data that you need that you need to identify which

324
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ten roofs you can fix and then now you can

325
00:24:00.440 --> 00:24:05.559
just chase that funding, right important thing is it collects

326
00:24:05.640 --> 00:24:09.279
the data that you need to access funding that you

327
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can do that you can get to actually complete the

328
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repairs and move these projects forward.

329
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Oh incredible. Now those that that need to be trained

330
00:24:22.440 --> 00:24:24.960
on how to use that technology, that's a part of

331
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services that you're providing that teach them the technology how

332
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to use that technology.

333
00:24:31.240 --> 00:24:34.359
Yeah. Yeah, We enroll them in a in a program

334
00:24:34.400 --> 00:24:37.319
called Carson dun Lap It's a home inspection course. It's

335
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an online course. It's nationally and internationally recognized. It's it's

336
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actually used in i think thirty different other countries for

337
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home inspection training and it's recognized in Canada US as well.

338
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So that's that's the primary core function of Carson dun

339
00:24:54.599 --> 00:25:01.319
lup is is the home inspection process and understanding deficiency recognition,

340
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which is so important because deficiency recognition is one of

341
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those things where if you can look at something and understand, Okay,

342
00:25:12.559 --> 00:25:17.720
there's something wrong here and be able to explain what

343
00:25:17.759 --> 00:25:20.720
that item is that's wrong and how to fix it

344
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is so important to moving things forward. So we go

345
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through the Carson Dunlop course and that's usually six months

346
00:25:27.720 --> 00:25:30.119
to a year, where we support the candidate and to

347
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help with pure tutoring to help them understand that whole

348
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skill set. And then we actually do we teach them

349
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on how to use a drone to do roof inspections

350
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and aerial aerial photography and do the actual entire property

351
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to understand drainage issues within that property, Thermal cameras, moisture meters,

352
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laser measuring tools, there's several apps that we actually provide

353
00:26:04.039 --> 00:26:07.680
within the smartphone that we send them as well as

354
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our actual home inspectionion software.

355
00:26:11.799 --> 00:26:14.799
Yeah, I was looking at that. I was reading about

356
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what's in the box, and it's like smartphones with preloaded

357
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inspection apps and drones for like you said, with memory

358
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cards for aerial inspections, thermal camera attachment to detect heat

359
00:26:28.279 --> 00:26:30.440
loss and moisture. I didn't even know they did that.

360
00:26:32.279 --> 00:26:37.720
I learned a lot, you know, moisture meter and measuring

361
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tools for structure assessments, laser measuring tools for accurate floor

362
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plans and training guys and report templets for seamless inspections.

363
00:26:48.200 --> 00:26:51.319
I mean, so they just open the box and there

364
00:26:51.359 --> 00:26:55.359
they are. They have everything that they need to perform

365
00:26:55.599 --> 00:26:56.200
their job.

366
00:26:57.599 --> 00:27:03.119
Yeah, we strongly believe that technology is the great equalizer

367
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in terms of knowledge learning and developing a skill base

368
00:27:08.440 --> 00:27:16.359
for inspection occupations like in the old days, Like the

369
00:27:16.440 --> 00:27:19.880
typical home inspector right now you look at is somebody

370
00:27:19.920 --> 00:27:23.920
that's in their forty late forties, fifties. They have twenty

371
00:27:23.960 --> 00:27:27.599
five years experience of carpentry and construction and understand that

372
00:27:27.680 --> 00:27:35.359
whole process. But we are we're actually trying to change

373
00:27:35.519 --> 00:27:38.920
that mindset of what that home inspector is and we're

374
00:27:38.960 --> 00:27:43.680
targeting a younger, more youthful audience because we were trying

375
00:27:43.720 --> 00:27:49.480
to bring that knowledge based on that skill set, training

376
00:27:49.799 --> 00:27:53.359
and condense it into a one year timeframe so that

377
00:27:53.359 --> 00:27:56.680
that person now can learn what it would take a

378
00:27:56.799 --> 00:28:03.720
normal somebody doing construction and entry around like five years.

379
00:28:04.160 --> 00:28:06.920
We're trying to condense it to one year using technology.

380
00:28:07.359 --> 00:28:09.759
And there's a lot of things with technology that allows

381
00:28:09.839 --> 00:28:14.519
us to actually to speed up that process, especially like

382
00:28:14.599 --> 00:28:18.920
remote learning. But smartphones are one of the biggest things

383
00:28:18.960 --> 00:28:23.519
in that intuitive connection to technology, and so like I

384
00:28:23.559 --> 00:28:26.160
always say, I always have the same comment, like you

385
00:28:26.200 --> 00:28:28.640
give a fifty year old carpenter a smartphone and they

386
00:28:28.680 --> 00:28:31.640
make a phone call, But you give a twenty year

387
00:28:31.680 --> 00:28:36.400
old a smartphone and they're banking, watching videos, downloading all

388
00:28:36.480 --> 00:28:39.960
sorts of resource material and they can live their life

389
00:28:40.079 --> 00:28:45.839
using a smartphone. Right, And so there's so much technology

390
00:28:45.880 --> 00:28:50.960
out there that has that's available through like different apps

391
00:28:51.000 --> 00:28:53.920
and different functions through a smartphone that we can actually

392
00:28:53.960 --> 00:28:58.160
shorten the learning curve and really condense that timeframe and

393
00:28:58.880 --> 00:29:03.279
produce within one year somebody that has all the tools

394
00:29:03.319 --> 00:29:06.960
and knowledge to do home inspections and to actually move

395
00:29:07.200 --> 00:29:08.400
housing programs forward.

396
00:29:09.759 --> 00:29:16.480
Incredible. As I was doing my research, I also saw,

397
00:29:16.640 --> 00:29:20.640
in addition to direct community delivery Inspector in a Box,

398
00:29:21.240 --> 00:29:27.079
it's also available as a franchise, enabling Indigenous entrepreneurs to

399
00:29:27.119 --> 00:29:32.759
operate their own housing support businesses. So are there any

400
00:29:32.799 --> 00:29:36.119
specific requirements to own a franchise?

401
00:29:39.160 --> 00:29:43.039
Not really, Like the whole franchise process came up as

402
00:29:43.079 --> 00:29:47.119
a result of our initial meetings with communities and them

403
00:29:47.200 --> 00:29:53.480
identifying gaps and deficiencies within our service offerings. Originally, when

404
00:29:53.480 --> 00:29:55.759
we launched Inspector in a Box, it was it was

405
00:29:55.880 --> 00:30:00.480
just a remote capacity development and inspection process. But when

406
00:30:01.000 --> 00:30:05.720
we presented the communities, they said, well, okay, well when

407
00:30:05.880 --> 00:30:09.839
you train, when you train somebody so they can do

408
00:30:09.920 --> 00:30:12.319
home inspections. How do we keep them within that skill

409
00:30:12.400 --> 00:30:15.720
set and keep them employed within that because there's a

410
00:30:15.759 --> 00:30:18.240
lot of one off training program for somebody can spend

411
00:30:18.240 --> 00:30:21.599
three months to be in IT tech, but later they're

412
00:30:21.640 --> 00:30:25.480
pushing a broom because there's no job prospects within that training.

413
00:30:26.960 --> 00:30:31.160
So we thought about that. I said, okay, well, after

414
00:30:31.200 --> 00:30:33.519
we train our candidate, why don't we certify them as

415
00:30:33.559 --> 00:30:36.599
home inspectors across Canada and the US and so they

416
00:30:36.599 --> 00:30:40.279
can actually just continue to do the home inspection business

417
00:30:41.440 --> 00:30:44.839
not just within their home community, but within the municipalities

418
00:30:44.839 --> 00:30:49.880
and geographical areas that they're living and actually bring generator

419
00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:55.640
revenue that can keep them employed and bring them economic

420
00:30:55.720 --> 00:31:01.759
developer prosperity. And then we looked at that and said, okay,

421
00:31:01.799 --> 00:31:04.599
well we'll train them as home inspectors and certify them

422
00:31:04.680 --> 00:31:07.640
so they can have businesses. And then the next question

423
00:31:07.720 --> 00:31:09.799
came up as a result that does well well after

424
00:31:09.839 --> 00:31:13.799
their business, how do we support them? And said, okay, well,

425
00:31:13.799 --> 00:31:16.519
why don't we develop inspector in a box and offer

426
00:31:16.559 --> 00:31:19.559
a franchise model where that candidate can now come in

427
00:31:20.319 --> 00:31:22.839
become a franchisee and we can support them with our

428
00:31:22.880 --> 00:31:26.160
own infrastructure for that three to five years where most

429
00:31:26.160 --> 00:31:29.920
businesses fail, right to get them over that hump, and

430
00:31:29.960 --> 00:31:33.279
then we can support them with our own invoicing and

431
00:31:33.319 --> 00:31:39.119
scheduling and email systems and inspection software and all that,

432
00:31:39.640 --> 00:31:42.599
and then hopefully within that after that three to five

433
00:31:42.680 --> 00:31:46.160
year timeframe, we can approach them and say, hey, look,

434
00:31:46.559 --> 00:31:49.319
you're a successful business. Now you have your own clients,

435
00:31:49.359 --> 00:31:53.799
you're generating your own revenue. Maybe it's time for us

436
00:31:53.880 --> 00:31:56.079
the part ways and you to go on as your

437
00:31:56.119 --> 00:32:00.559
own business, as your own entity, and we'll always be

438
00:32:00.680 --> 00:32:02.920
there to support you if you ever have any questions,

439
00:32:02.960 --> 00:32:07.319
if you ever have business development questions or want to

440
00:32:07.440 --> 00:32:11.119
learn more and continuing education, like, we'll be there, but

441
00:32:12.559 --> 00:32:14.880
it's time to go on your own. And that's kind

442
00:32:14.920 --> 00:32:17.799
of how the franchise model kind of came up as

443
00:32:17.839 --> 00:32:20.920
just a it's an interim way to support a candidate

444
00:32:21.480 --> 00:32:24.799
and hopefully that candidate within three to five years can

445
00:32:24.839 --> 00:32:27.440
actually become their own business. And that's kind of what

446
00:32:27.480 --> 00:32:29.920
we'd like to see because at the end of the day,

447
00:32:30.079 --> 00:32:33.039
we still live by that model of we work ourselves

448
00:32:33.079 --> 00:32:37.279
out of the job because as they're like, there's six

449
00:32:37.400 --> 00:32:40.319
hundred and sixty nations across Canada, there's five hundred and

450
00:32:40.359 --> 00:32:46.759
I think forty in the US. Yeah, there's twelve hundred

451
00:32:46.759 --> 00:32:52.200
Indigenous communities nations across Canada. US. It's not like we'll

452
00:32:52.240 --> 00:32:57.599
ever be out of a job. So but the idea

453
00:32:57.640 --> 00:33:00.160
of the long term vision is we have some be

454
00:33:00.359 --> 00:33:04.480
capable in each and every community across county US to

455
00:33:05.519 --> 00:33:07.119
fulfill these roles right and.

456
00:33:08.799 --> 00:33:13.759
Then train their their children. It just continues and the

457
00:33:13.880 --> 00:33:17.720
business continues to grow. I mean some there are some

458
00:33:17.759 --> 00:33:20.920
smaller tribes, but there are some much larger tribes, and

459
00:33:21.599 --> 00:33:25.960
you'd have to have like twenty inspectors that are there.

460
00:33:26.400 --> 00:33:29.279
I mean, I mean it's just you know, huge and

461
00:33:29.400 --> 00:33:32.599
the businesses and they can then train there. I know,

462
00:33:32.640 --> 00:33:38.759
when I was in school many years back, learning skills

463
00:33:38.839 --> 00:33:43.400
training was something that was done in high school. In

464
00:33:43.480 --> 00:33:45.920
middle school they would begin and then in high school

465
00:33:46.039 --> 00:33:48.400
they were able to go to shop. They were able

466
00:33:48.440 --> 00:33:53.000
to learn all types of skills, carpentry, plumbing, things like that.

467
00:33:53.039 --> 00:33:55.480
They don't do that in school anymore. I'm not really

468
00:33:55.559 --> 00:33:59.039
sure why they felt that was not a needed service. Instead,

469
00:33:59.119 --> 00:34:04.559
you're learning poetry. I'm sorry, I'm digressing, but you know,

470
00:34:04.839 --> 00:34:08.719
learning skills that will actually benefit you in your twenties

471
00:34:08.760 --> 00:34:11.320
and your thirties and your forties and your fifties is

472
00:34:11.360 --> 00:34:16.639
something that would be really important. And so them learning

473
00:34:16.639 --> 00:34:21.039
those skills and then passing those skills on to other youth,

474
00:34:21.400 --> 00:34:24.119
you know, either in their family or others in the community.

475
00:34:24.840 --> 00:34:27.559
I mean, it could just go on for generations. So

476
00:34:28.519 --> 00:34:32.800
as you mentioned, it's going to establish generational wealth, something

477
00:34:32.800 --> 00:34:36.719
that will last for years and years. And believe me,

478
00:34:36.760 --> 00:34:38.920
as long as there's a house, there's always going to

479
00:34:38.920 --> 00:34:41.559
be a need for a house. It's like as long

480
00:34:41.599 --> 00:34:44.719
as people live, you're always going to need healthcare. So

481
00:34:44.960 --> 00:34:48.239
I mean there's just some some skills out there. They're

482
00:34:48.320 --> 00:34:52.159
never going to stop being needed someplace, you know, in

483
00:34:52.199 --> 00:34:57.280
the region. And so it's just something fantastic idea. So

484
00:34:57.599 --> 00:34:59.840
you yeah, go ahead, I'm sorry, go ahead.

485
00:35:00.559 --> 00:35:02.960
I just want to kind of point out that like

486
00:35:03.920 --> 00:35:10.199
the home and special industry, like this statistics March for

487
00:35:10.280 --> 00:35:14.599
twenty twenty four is it's it's over like six billion

488
00:35:14.639 --> 00:35:19.079
dollars in terms of revenue that they can within North America.

489
00:35:19.400 --> 00:35:21.960
Like that's six billion dollars that we can have access to.

490
00:35:22.440 --> 00:35:26.599
But not just that, like when we talk about retaining

491
00:35:27.239 --> 00:35:30.360
that economic prosperity within the community. It's like when I

492
00:35:30.400 --> 00:35:33.119
said there's a valuation of two billion dollars a year,

493
00:35:34.679 --> 00:35:36.840
but we also look at the trickle down effect of

494
00:35:36.840 --> 00:35:40.880
the economic of prosperity. Where we spend a dollar in

495
00:35:40.880 --> 00:35:44.679
the community, it's generally spent three times over. So if

496
00:35:44.719 --> 00:35:48.400
there's two billion dollars spent within the Indigenous community in Canada,

497
00:35:48.760 --> 00:35:51.480
that's six billion dollars a year that we could retain

498
00:35:51.679 --> 00:35:56.480
for ourselves. Can you imagine what kind of what kind

499
00:35:56.480 --> 00:36:01.440
of generational impacts six billion dollars have to our housing community.

500
00:36:02.679 --> 00:36:04.920
The same thing with the US as well, Like there's

501
00:36:04.960 --> 00:36:08.519
there's so much revenue that's spent that just leaves the community,

502
00:36:08.559 --> 00:36:11.920
and we need to keep that. We need to maintain

503
00:36:13.119 --> 00:36:17.639
ownership of that revenue. And that's how we get out

504
00:36:17.679 --> 00:36:22.320
of poverty, is keeping that money within the communities.

505
00:36:23.639 --> 00:36:29.119
Yeah, how well is this being received in in communities?

506
00:36:29.199 --> 00:36:32.800
I mean some of their key issues are they have

507
00:36:32.920 --> 00:36:39.519
geographic isolation, like you said, labor shortage, you know, systemic underfunding,

508
00:36:39.960 --> 00:36:44.920
aging infrastructure, overburdened housing departments. I Mean, the list goes

509
00:36:44.960 --> 00:36:48.360
on as to why this is so needed and how

510
00:36:48.400 --> 00:36:50.440
has it been received in communities.

511
00:36:53.239 --> 00:36:56.400
The response has been crazy. We've We've had so much

512
00:36:56.480 --> 00:37:05.119
response from so much communities this year. One of the

513
00:37:05.119 --> 00:37:09.559
big things we've focused on is putting developing strategic partnerships

514
00:37:09.559 --> 00:37:14.280
because that's kind of another gap that we identified, is like,

515
00:37:14.519 --> 00:37:21.880
when we go through the process of seeking renovation money

516
00:37:21.920 --> 00:37:24.920
and securing it, then all of a sudden, now we're

517
00:37:24.920 --> 00:37:27.960
in a position where now we need a project manager

518
00:37:28.039 --> 00:37:31.639
to actually oversee the construe the renovation repair of these

519
00:37:31.760 --> 00:37:39.039
homes that we've identified for that work. And we kind

520
00:37:39.039 --> 00:37:42.440
of identified that we can't fill that role because we're

521
00:37:42.519 --> 00:37:45.360
filling the role of already doing the inspections and the training.

522
00:37:45.760 --> 00:37:48.400
We don't have capacity to be project managers as well

523
00:37:48.480 --> 00:37:51.320
to do the renovations. But we have to safeguard that

524
00:37:51.400 --> 00:37:54.280
process because all the work we've done with the inspection

525
00:37:54.440 --> 00:37:59.199
process and secured that funding, if we put in a

526
00:37:59.239 --> 00:38:02.360
project manager just there to fill their pockets and get

527
00:38:02.400 --> 00:38:06.119
the hell out of Dodge, then we failed that our

528
00:38:06.199 --> 00:38:08.280
process because we're still going to mind up with a

529
00:38:08.320 --> 00:38:12.360
deficient house. Right. So we started kind of reaching out

530
00:38:12.360 --> 00:38:16.119
and developing strategic partnerships across Canada US and saying, hey, look,

531
00:38:16.920 --> 00:38:20.679
we want to find project managers and construction companies and

532
00:38:20.760 --> 00:38:23.519
engineers and stuff like that that are in this space

533
00:38:23.599 --> 00:38:26.760
for the right reason and not just in their pockets

534
00:38:26.800 --> 00:38:30.280
and get rich off one project, but actually want to

535
00:38:30.360 --> 00:38:35.920
see economic development and prosperity for indigenous communities and identifying

536
00:38:36.039 --> 00:38:40.159
those those groups and organizations and being able to say

537
00:38:41.599 --> 00:38:44.239
when we talk to a community, we walk in with

538
00:38:44.239 --> 00:38:45.880
our inspector in a box hat, and all of a

539
00:38:45.880 --> 00:38:48.239
sudden they're trying to fit us in for like economic

540
00:38:48.280 --> 00:38:52.239
development and public works and infrastructure development, and we were like,

541
00:38:52.960 --> 00:38:54.760
We're like, we want to be able to say, well,

542
00:38:54.800 --> 00:38:57.239
we can't help you with that, like we don't do that,

543
00:38:57.519 --> 00:39:00.840
but we know a person that can help you, and

544
00:39:00.920 --> 00:39:04.280
we can make that introduction and then have that person

545
00:39:04.679 --> 00:39:09.719
fulfill that role and be that guardian of that for

546
00:39:09.840 --> 00:39:15.239
that nation to do that work right. So that's kind

547
00:39:15.239 --> 00:39:18.400
of what we've really been focusing on, is identifying those

548
00:39:19.079 --> 00:39:21.840
good candidates that we can hand off that work too.

549
00:39:23.840 --> 00:39:27.159
And part of that process is we've also been building

550
00:39:27.320 --> 00:39:32.320
our internal team in terms of being poised to be

551
00:39:32.360 --> 00:39:36.360
able to just start taking on client after client and

552
00:39:36.400 --> 00:39:39.199
client and doing the training and doing the work because

553
00:39:39.320 --> 00:39:44.079
like there's such a great need and the reponts has

554
00:39:44.079 --> 00:39:47.519
just been phenomenal. We have a waiting list of fift

555
00:39:47.880 --> 00:39:50.639
or twenty five communities right now just in Canada alone

556
00:39:51.000 --> 00:39:53.920
who want to Rector in a box, and we said,

557
00:39:54.119 --> 00:39:56.480
we're just not ready to take on the volume of

558
00:39:56.480 --> 00:40:00.480
the clients. Want to work out some of the this

559
00:40:00.559 --> 00:40:05.800
year with the program, software integrations and the costing and

560
00:40:05.840 --> 00:40:09.880
all that stuff, because the more we do it, the

561
00:40:11.079 --> 00:40:13.960
more we can reduce the actual subscription costs for the

562
00:40:14.000 --> 00:40:18.599
software and all this other stuff. Another key piece that

563
00:40:18.639 --> 00:40:22.280
we were able to put together this year was we've

564
00:40:22.639 --> 00:40:25.840
just signed a partnership with a company called Climate Door

565
00:40:26.559 --> 00:40:32.280
out of British Columbia. Climate Or has graciously agreed to

566
00:40:32.880 --> 00:40:36.679
do all our funding applications to launch our program as

567
00:40:36.679 --> 00:40:41.559
well as to secure the rebate or the or the

568
00:40:41.599 --> 00:40:45.239
renovation funding free charge. Like they'll do that free charge,

569
00:40:45.280 --> 00:40:49.559
like we like, Well, we do all that work and

570
00:40:49.679 --> 00:40:56.199
get our program launched using leveraging existing federal provincial funding

571
00:40:56.280 --> 00:41:03.719
programs as well as secure the renovation funding using existing

572
00:41:03.719 --> 00:41:06.639
programs that are out there and money will actually do

573
00:41:06.719 --> 00:41:10.199
all that work free. So and that's been a really

574
00:41:10.280 --> 00:41:14.079
key piece. Now we're finally, we're finally at the point

575
00:41:14.119 --> 00:41:17.599
where we're ready to start just taking the volume on.

576
00:41:18.480 --> 00:41:28.119
Mm hmm wonderful. So looking to build capacity or become

577
00:41:28.159 --> 00:41:31.960
an entrepreneur ready to launch their own venture, Inspector in

578
00:41:32.000 --> 00:41:36.800
a Box offers a path four. What are the steps

579
00:41:37.599 --> 00:41:41.440
to get in contact with your organization? What is your

580
00:41:41.599 --> 00:41:44.880
email and phone number? How do you how should people

581
00:41:44.920 --> 00:41:47.960
get in touch with you? I'm saying we want to

582
00:41:48.000 --> 00:41:49.639
throw more work onto you Stand.

583
00:41:51.639 --> 00:41:55.079
Yeah. Generally, just our email is stand Night nine one

584
00:41:55.119 --> 00:41:58.599
one at gmail dot com. That's that's the most monitored

585
00:41:58.679 --> 00:42:01.920
email I have. And then our website address is Zachary

586
00:42:02.000 --> 00:42:08.480
Knight Enterprises dot com. But generally what we're doing is

587
00:42:08.519 --> 00:42:13.000
like the work that we're doing is for indigenous communities.

588
00:42:13.079 --> 00:42:15.440
So it's usually the indigenous communities that reach out to

589
00:42:15.480 --> 00:42:17.840
us and say, okay, yeah, we want to we want

590
00:42:18.039 --> 00:42:21.440
to move forward to fixing homes, and then they may

591
00:42:21.559 --> 00:42:29.320
identify the candidate. In future, in probably probably two more years,

592
00:42:29.440 --> 00:42:32.440
will be at the point where where somebody can reach

593
00:42:32.480 --> 00:42:35.639
out to us directly as an individual and say, hey,

594
00:42:35.719 --> 00:42:37.920
I want to launch an Inspector in the Box franchise

595
00:42:37.960 --> 00:42:42.639
within my own geographical area and we in a position

596
00:42:42.760 --> 00:42:46.320
to help them and do that role as as a

597
00:42:46.360 --> 00:42:52.079
standalone franchise company. But right now we're focused on taking

598
00:42:52.119 --> 00:42:57.440
on Indigenous communities as clients and then getting that work

599
00:42:57.519 --> 00:43:01.639
moving forward to fixing homes. But the long term vision

600
00:43:01.760 --> 00:43:06.320
is to develop that that direct franchise pathway as well, because,

601
00:43:07.519 --> 00:43:13.280
like I said, like the franchise business model within the

602
00:43:13.320 --> 00:43:16.719
home special franchise business model within Canada US is like

603
00:43:17.719 --> 00:43:19.719
I think it was like six billion dollars or for

604
00:43:19.920 --> 00:43:24.519
four billion dollars a year. That's a huge amount of

605
00:43:24.679 --> 00:43:30.320
money that we can tap into, right and really generate

606
00:43:30.440 --> 00:43:31.519
generational wealth.

607
00:43:31.639 --> 00:43:39.639
So, oh, yeah, have you attended any conferences any indigenous

608
00:43:40.199 --> 00:43:41.679
to your project?

609
00:43:42.440 --> 00:43:47.800
Yeah? This fall I was planning on on attending I

610
00:43:47.840 --> 00:43:50.280
think four conferences, and I had to counsel them all

611
00:43:50.360 --> 00:43:55.079
because just because I just didn't have the time. We've

612
00:43:55.079 --> 00:43:58.239
been just so swamped with work and trying to kind

613
00:43:58.280 --> 00:44:03.199
of put all the pieces we need together. So for

614
00:44:03.320 --> 00:44:07.920
twenty twenty six, I do have I think four conferences

615
00:44:07.960 --> 00:44:13.280
in Canada planned. I haven't really kind of finalized in

616
00:44:13.639 --> 00:44:17.840
US conferences this year, but there's probably a couple that

617
00:44:17.880 --> 00:44:20.360
I would love to go to, but it's just kind

618
00:44:20.400 --> 00:44:26.079
of finding the time because we're just we've booststrapped this

619
00:44:26.159 --> 00:44:32.760
company since we started it in January of twenty twenty five,

620
00:44:33.440 --> 00:44:35.800
and because of that, I've been kind of fulfilling all

621
00:44:35.840 --> 00:44:41.159
the roles of business development and all the other stuff,

622
00:44:41.159 --> 00:44:43.480
and we're finally in a position where we can actually

623
00:44:43.519 --> 00:44:47.559
hire some bodies to do some of the admin positions.

624
00:44:49.760 --> 00:44:53.440
Hopefully in the spring, will have maybe six conferences that

625
00:44:53.519 --> 00:44:54.159
I can attend.

626
00:44:55.320 --> 00:45:01.119
I have some recommendations for you y definitely, I know

627
00:45:02.320 --> 00:45:06.119
some that are going to be starting as early as

628
00:45:06.199 --> 00:45:13.119
January and throughout the year, so I definitely will send

629
00:45:13.159 --> 00:45:17.760
you some contact information for you know, some of the

630
00:45:17.800 --> 00:45:24.199
indigenous communities that that have probably some of those issues

631
00:45:24.360 --> 00:45:30.320
and would definitely appreciate, you know, being a part of this,

632
00:45:30.320 --> 00:45:33.199
this business that you've put together, and this opportunity and

633
00:45:33.199 --> 00:45:38.239
you've put together to just develop those skills among their youth,

634
00:45:38.760 --> 00:45:41.880
because you know, one of the reasons that I do

635
00:45:42.039 --> 00:45:46.239
this podcast is to bring information to the next generation.

636
00:45:47.039 --> 00:45:50.480
You know, my generation. Most of my friends are retired already,

637
00:45:50.760 --> 00:45:55.360
so it's time to share with the next generation, and

638
00:45:55.440 --> 00:45:58.920
so we want to let them know. Everybody doesn't have

639
00:45:59.000 --> 00:46:02.760
to go to college there are opportunities using your hands

640
00:46:02.760 --> 00:46:05.760
and skills and things like that. Right now, we can't

641
00:46:05.760 --> 00:46:08.599
even get our infrastructure done here in the US because

642
00:46:08.880 --> 00:46:13.000
we don't have enough skilled labor. We've been We've had

643
00:46:13.039 --> 00:46:17.639
a bridge here in this Washington Portland, Oregon area that

644
00:46:17.920 --> 00:46:22.079
has needed to be replaced for years and they still

645
00:46:22.079 --> 00:46:26.000
have had to delay it another five years because there's

646
00:46:26.039 --> 00:46:29.639
not enough skilled labor. They've been trying to do classes

647
00:46:29.719 --> 00:46:34.079
on skills training and things like that, and for whatever reason,

648
00:46:34.159 --> 00:46:39.360
some of the youth are not signing up. I mean

649
00:46:39.679 --> 00:46:43.239
the skills training, it doesn't cost anything. You're going to

650
00:46:43.320 --> 00:46:47.280
get an opportunity to get an apprenticeship. But yet they're

651
00:46:47.280 --> 00:46:53.039
not signing up for the skills training. So you know,

652
00:46:53.239 --> 00:46:56.519
I'm not sure what the delay is, but it's an

653
00:46:56.519 --> 00:46:59.760
opportunity to have your own business. So you know, I'm

654
00:46:59.840 --> 00:47:05.280
high recommending that one of the things that will last

655
00:47:05.320 --> 00:47:11.360
any type of recession, depression, economy, failure, or whatever is

656
00:47:11.400 --> 00:47:15.440
having skills training in things like this doing you know,

657
00:47:16.559 --> 00:47:20.119
building some houses, or going and repairing equipment or repairing

658
00:47:20.440 --> 00:47:23.760
homes or you know, repairing roads or things like that.

659
00:47:23.800 --> 00:47:28.000
That stuff is always going to be needed. Some of

660
00:47:28.039 --> 00:47:31.519
your corporate jobs. You know, they can come and go,

661
00:47:32.000 --> 00:47:35.840
but things on the ground, things with their hands, You're

662
00:47:36.039 --> 00:47:38.679
never going to be in a situation where it's not needed.

663
00:47:39.199 --> 00:47:42.840
And so I'm really you know, sending out the call

664
00:47:44.039 --> 00:47:46.320
you want you're going to want to jump on this

665
00:47:46.719 --> 00:47:50.760
because it gives you an opportunity to be your own boss.

666
00:47:51.280 --> 00:47:54.679
Work the hours that you need to expand it, grow it,

667
00:47:54.840 --> 00:47:57.760
whatever it is that you want to do. And you

668
00:47:57.800 --> 00:48:01.559
don't have to you know, learn classes that you're never

669
00:48:01.639 --> 00:48:05.480
going to use like you do in college. So it's

670
00:48:05.760 --> 00:48:09.679
going to be an opportunity. And I really want to

671
00:48:09.760 --> 00:48:14.400
encourage you younger people to go out there and just

672
00:48:14.679 --> 00:48:19.079
learn about all the different skills plumbers, electricians, you know,

673
00:48:19.639 --> 00:48:25.519
construction of housing, going in and tearing out, you know,

674
00:48:25.719 --> 00:48:30.480
materials safely and fixing homes because there were some homes

675
00:48:30.519 --> 00:48:35.519
built with materials that are have carcinogens in them and

676
00:48:35.599 --> 00:48:41.039
all sorts of items and if that would would really

677
00:48:41.159 --> 00:48:47.239
damage the respiratory system. So yeah, this is just a

678
00:48:47.320 --> 00:48:52.639
phenomenal idea. Stand it's you know, I'm just so happy

679
00:48:52.679 --> 00:48:57.599
for you. I'm happy for the organization, and I'm really

680
00:48:57.679 --> 00:49:01.800
happy that you were able to join us. Is there

681
00:49:01.920 --> 00:49:05.800
anything else you would like to share before we end today.

682
00:49:06.440 --> 00:49:09.679
Yeah, just the quick thing about sculpt tudes, like, like

683
00:49:09.760 --> 00:49:15.440
you mentioned how important it's been. I had a discussion

684
00:49:15.559 --> 00:49:20.400
with a community member and he mentioned in important statistic

685
00:49:20.440 --> 00:49:23.639
that I thought was just shocking was in this community's

686
00:49:23.639 --> 00:49:27.599
got forty two people that have PhDs and they have

687
00:49:27.639 --> 00:49:33.519
one plumber. Like, Yeah, it's great to have higher education,

688
00:49:33.719 --> 00:49:36.280
but we need the trades. And the focus has been

689
00:49:36.320 --> 00:49:39.320
so much on higher education in the past twenty years

690
00:49:39.320 --> 00:49:42.760
that we've we've neglected the trades. Now we have a

691
00:49:42.760 --> 00:49:47.239
community that can create all sorts of policy, but they

692
00:49:47.280 --> 00:49:49.800
have one broken toilet and they're going to be in.

693
00:49:51.119 --> 00:49:54.719
No trouble. Imagine to get fifty of them in the community.

694
00:49:55.719 --> 00:49:58.400
Yeah, exactly. And that's and that's so important because we

695
00:49:58.480 --> 00:50:01.639
need to we need to building those traits again because

696
00:50:01.800 --> 00:50:05.920
that is that is a bottleneck and infrastructure development for us.

697
00:50:06.199 --> 00:50:11.000
And that's why we started focusing on diver or revenue

698
00:50:11.039 --> 00:50:14.280
from our program into the education into the trades programs

699
00:50:14.280 --> 00:50:16.960
as well as as capital investment so that we can

700
00:50:17.400 --> 00:50:20.119
start standing up more of these indigenous.

701
00:50:19.559 --> 00:50:21.920
Businesses, indigenous businesses.

702
00:50:21.840 --> 00:50:27.480
And just demystify that business process. Because everybody thinks it

703
00:50:27.559 --> 00:50:31.480
takes you have to be you have to have an

704
00:50:31.559 --> 00:50:35.119
MBA to start a business. It's true because it's.

705
00:50:35.280 --> 00:50:39.840
Yeah, there's there's too many other skilled types of businesses

706
00:50:39.840 --> 00:50:42.920
out there. You don't have to have any of this. Well,

707
00:50:42.960 --> 00:50:45.800
I want to say thank you for joining me today

708
00:50:47.199 --> 00:50:51.400
and we will talk more in the future. And for

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those who are listening, there's opportunities and I hope that

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you take advantage of these opportunities and get a hold

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of stand Night and his pro and I just want

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to thank everyone the tuned in today and let's just

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think about that different opportunities are available and take advantage

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of where they are. Thank you again for joining A

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00:51:15.519 --> 00:51:20.360
Sharp Outlook. We're here every Monday at eleven am Eastern

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time eight am Pacific time, and we are happy for

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00:51:25.079 --> 00:51:31.360
you to go in join us on the website wwwasharp

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00:51:31.480 --> 00:51:36.280
outlook dot com and sign up so you don't miss

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one of our programs. Thank you again and whatever you do,

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00:51:40.679 --> 00:51:48.480
stay in formed. I want to thank you for joining

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us on A Sharp Outlook. We have been informed and

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00:51:51.920 --> 00:51:55.440
energized to take the next steps. We don't posted links

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to websites and videos to learn more on today's tip.

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Please join us again next week for another thought provoking

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00:52:03.199 --> 00:52:08.000
conversation right here on k for HD radio and Talk

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00:52:08.119 --> 00:52:13.199
for TV. Listen to the podcast on all the podcast apps,

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00:52:13.760 --> 00:52:16.480
and until next week, stay informed