Would you look for a sub contractor on craiglist?

My largest commercial customer wants a big re-do on their property. Yay for me!!

But I have to have about 40 large shrubs (some 12 ft tall) removed. I spoke with an arborist who said they would cut down and grind out stumps.

Well I can cut down and haul away to yard waste center myself and hire someone to remove stumps.

But I do not know anyone who does this. Should I advertise on craigslist?
Contact area garden nurseries for references? Whoever I hire has to have liability insurance per my business insurance policy. Also the liability I have to carry at this place is quite substantial which should weed out some businesses.

Advice??

I wouldn't trust anyone on craigslist for something like this, since they may not have any references or anything...
I think landscaping companies would do this, wouldn't they?

If I were in your shoes I'd look for someone via a message board - in this case the landscaping "equivalent" of TheCatSite. Who that is, I don't know

Would someone like that be on Angie's List? I've used ServiceMagic to find contractors for large and small jobs around my house. They give their references to ServiceMagic and do a lot of customer satisfaction surveys after the fact to keep a good supply of references.

And google Tree Stump removal in online yellow pages. My last resort is to call people and hire them based on a gut feel after talking to them.

It wouldn't be the first place I would look for someone personally (but CL is nowhere near as big up here in general) but as long as they came with the references & liability you would require from anyone, I don't see that it matters

Do ask for an upto date liability certificate for that job though, I know someone who had a copy of a subcontractors certificate but he had since cancelled the policy. If you ask them for a policy document for that jobsite, they can't cancel it without honouring work at that site

There are a whole bunch of them in the phonebook. This would be a nice job for anyone. The contact person at the business though wants them dug out if possible-grrr the spots where they are located makes its questionable-I'll have to measure. Then the dealing with any buried utility lines.....

I would only use personal references. Ask old( previous ) clients, people you know. A membership in Angie's List costs about 50 bucks. I have one and I have found it useful.

I would just ask and then check references ( ie what you would do no matter how you found them)