Word-of-mouth leads in Portland - 5 months and counting

A friend who works at a local manufacturer says there are openings not advertised online. It has been a long 4 weeks. They prefer people who can start within a couple of weeks. What do you write in a cold email?

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it 5 months ago, and it settled down once I kept a simple log of every call and form.