Local leaders don’t need another study. They need a realistic path forward. That’s where we come in.
Municipal Consulting Services
Practical, transparently priced support for municipalities navigating leadership transitions, workforce/HR challenges, capital planning, organizational change, and large-scale community decision-making.
Municipal Recruitments
From Town/City Managers, department heads, or critical staff vacancies, we have an empathetic and evidence-based approach with a clear track record of filling key positions with great new employees.
We can support your existing HR/hiring staff or take point and run the recruitment, from job description review, posting/media creation, applicant solicitation/screening, interview guidance, background checks, contract negotiation and more.
Compensation & Classification Studies
What makes our studies different is the ability to customize to your organization’s needs and that we run our entire process with the goal of building trust and buy-in from your employees and community stakeholders.
From reviewing job descriptions/titles, internal equity, collecting market data, and providing new pay scales and personnel policies, we can do targeted updates or address your entire organization’s pay scale in one project.
Interim Manager/Admin Services
During one of your organization’s most sensitive times, we can ensure a smooth transition by connecting dots, keeping key business moving, providing leadership with an outside perspective, and even addressing high-priority personnel or organizational issues.
Read about Alex’s experience and see direct client feedback from his time serving as Interim Manager in Rockingham/Bellows Falls, Vermont in winter and spring of 2026.
Board Onboarding, Development, Strategic Planning & Facilitation
Whether you need to orient/onboard new members, refresh a training for a new Chair with public comment, facilitation, or other topics, or help plan out your goals or agenda, we have a time-tested process of helping Board members work together to get organized and ready to take on upcoming challenges.
Alex has spoken at workshops around the country, such as at ICMA Regional and National, Municipal Solutions Summit, Primex/MMANH, and NHMA training other Managers/Administrations on these topics.
Capital Planning & Organizational Analysis
Proper capital planning is not only typically a state requirement, but it is one of the most effective ways to ensure a viable financial future for your organization and community, especially as costs continue to rise from capital to staffing.
We have a comprehensive but accessible process that helps identify key cost drivers and gives you the information and tools needed to ensure you can maintain affordability while still investing in your infrastructure, employees, and services.
Community Engagement & Civic Capacity
What we call “authentic and effective public engagement” should be a foundational layer of every program in your municipality. But sometimes running a specific program to help train department heads or Board members, engage the community in your town/master plan, build trust after a local controversy, or just to better fill Board/committee vacancies, we can run targeted trainings, programs, and help write policies that support your organization’s ability to communicate, learn, and engage with your community.
Read Alex’s article published in the International City/County Management Association’s Public Management Magazine on Authentic and Effective Public Engagement.
How We Work
Clear scopes, practical processes, and work designed to leave your organization stronger and more capable when the project is complete.
Define the Problem
With local knowledge and context, we start with understanding what your community or organization actually needs, rather than trying to fit the problem into a canned consulting package.
Agree on Scope & Price
We establish clear deliverables, responsibilities, timing, and in most cases a transparent, flat-rate project cost before the work begins so you know 100% of your costs before you agree to the work.
Do the Work With You
We work efficiently and communicate regularly with your key stakeholders such as boards, employees, and community stakeholders. All of our work is guaranteed to be done professionally and with an eye towards building trust and buy-in from your stakeholders.
Give You Something Useful
Our goal is not simply to deliver a report that collects dust on a shelf. We build practical tools, systems, data, and next steps that your organization can actually continue using, reducing your need to budget for outside help in the future.
Have a municipal challenge that doesn’t fit neatly into one of these categories?
That’s often where some of our most useful work starts. Rethink Local also provides scoped technical and advisory support on a range of municipal management, organizational, planning, personnel, and community issues.
If you have a problem to solve, a project that has stalled, or simply need experienced outside perspective, tell us a little about what’s going on. We can help think through whether there is a useful scope, approach, and budget.
Tell us what you’re working on
A few sentences is plenty. We’ll follow up to talk through whether we may be able to help.