Local Government Consulting

Independent and objective government consulting

Focused on inspiring organizations to transform and innovate, our Local Government Practice Group partners with municipal, county, regional, and quasi-governmental entities throughout the US to help them meet their biggest challenges.

We partner with local governments at the enterprise level, as well as within and across departments, to meet the most critical needs of your community, emphasizing principles of equity and engagement. We take pride in tailoring our projects to recognize the work our clients do every day. We care about what we do, and we care about the people impacted by our work.

Areas of expertise

Our areas of expertise cover the breadth of local government services and our experts include many former local government leaders who have hands-on, practical experience in the field, at the municipal level and within specific areas.

Community development

Guiding your community’s vision

Finance and administration

Leveraging experience for smarter government operations

Health services

Building better systems for better community healthcare

Justice and public safety

Advancing your most critical justice and public safety initiatives

Parks, recreation, and libraries

Improving community services and advancing innovation

K-12 education

Fulfilling the promise of technology for K-12 education

Information and technology management

Meeting organizational goals through IT security and planning

Utility
operations

Optimizing processes to help ensure project completion without compromises

Community development

Our team can help you create visions, plans, and strategies to improve and innovate your community development technology solutions. Thoughtful analysis, collaboration, and communication define our approach to every project, enabling us to provide you with meaningful solutions to foster growth. Learn more about our community development consulting team.

Software consulting

As an objective partner, we help agencies assess, implement, and adopt community development software, such as permitting, billing, or enterprise asset management systems.

Organizational change management

We guide your team through change by using strategies that promote buy-in and consensus to positively impact adoption, acceptance, and overall project success.

Business process improvement

We help you develop improved processes, policies, and technology to best support your operations, improving efficiency and service delivery to your stakeholders.

Organizational assessments

We work with you to optimize resources, processes, and structures by assessing organizational, operational, technological, and regulatory aspects of related departments.

Comprehensive planning

We help you create an action plan for your long-term vision through a process of community engagement, assessment, and a review of best practices.

Fee and cost recovery studies

We partner with you to develop a comprehensive fee study to determine the optimal application of user fees to recover up to the full cost of providing services.

Finance and administration

Our finance and administration services team is independent, objective, and has a deep understanding of the public sector. We analyze people, processes, and technology to streamline operations and leverage technology best practices to help you achieve your strategic vision. Learn more about our finance and administration team.

Software consulting

As an objective partner, we help agencies assess, implement, and adopt ERP, Human Capital Management (HCM), HRIS, and CIS systems to better serve your community.

Strategic planning

We partner with you to develop strategic plans with a compelling vision, and help you set measurable objectives, identify community impacts, and align resources.

Organizational assessments

We examine organizational strengths, challenges, and opportunities and develop recommendations to help you meet your goals and deliver exceptional services.

Organizational change management

We guide your team through change by using strategies that promote buy-in and consensus to positively impact adoption, acceptance, and overall project success.

Business process improvement

We help you develop improved processes, policies, and technology to best support your operations, improving efficiency and service delivery to your stakeholders.

Grant consulting

We guide you through the process, helping to identify funding, submit competitive applications, comply with reporting requirements, and manage the grant through closeout.

Fee and cost recovery studies

We partner with you to develop a comprehensive fee study to determine the optimal application of user fees to recover up to the full cost of providing services.

Health services

Our health services consulting team works with health and community services departments to improve the quality of lives in their communities. Leveraging our team’s extensive backgrounds in public health, equity and inclusion, and technology management, we help you push the limits of what you think is possible to achieve ambitious goals. Learn more about our health services consulting team.

Software consulting

As an objective partner, we help you assess, implement, and adopt enterprise technology systems including Electronic Health Records (EHR) to better serve your community.

Organizational change management

We guide your team through change by using strategies that promote buy-in and consensus to positively impact adoption, acceptance, and overall project success.

Business process improvement

We help you develop improved processes, policies, and technology to best support your operations, improving efficiency and service delivery to your stakeholders.

Justice and public safety

As partners to clients across the justice and public safety spectrum, we assist police, fire, and sheriff departments, in addition to a variety of corrections, probation, court systems, and state attorneys. We understand the value of combining business and technical expertise to generate solutions to modern justice and public safety challenges. Learn more about our justice and public safety consulting team.

Corrections technology
consulting

With firsthand experience and national perspective, we collaborate with clients to develop and implement technology strategies and offender management systems.

Court and prosecution technology consulting

We understand the ins and outs of complex court processes and systems—and the technology that best supports them.

Public safety
consulting

We leverage decades of law enforcement experience to improve the delivery of critical services for communities, including police studies and police staffing studies.

Public safety information systems consulting

Using our proven methodology which removes typical barriers, we help clients assess, select, and implement CAD, RMS, GIS, and jail management software.

Parks, recreation, and libraries

Our Parks, Recreation, and Libraries team works with you to improve operations, drive innovation, identify improvements to services based on community need, and elevate your brand and image―all from the perspective of our team’s combined 100 years of hands-on, practical parks, recreation, and libraries experience. Learn more about our parks, recreation, libraries team.

Strategic planning

We partner with you to envision, create, and implement a plan to bring your agency's mission, vision, and values to life through a comprehensive process.

Master planning

We guide you through the master planning process, considering community engagement, demographic assessments, levels of service standards, and operations.

Feasibility studies

As an unbiased third-party, our team can help you determine the financial viability and ROI of a new facility or amenity through a comprehensive analysis.

Operational assessments

We look at your staffing, culture and service delivery, workforce capacity, leadership, finance, and technology to provide you with realistic recommendations for improving areas for higher performance.

Pricing and cost recovery studies

Our team provides customized pricing and cost recovery studies that include a review of your revenue plan, subsidy levels, and pricing policies.

Schools and educational services

Our K-12 team works closely with academic systems to establish comprehensive, cost-effective technology strategies essential to operational efficiency, and guides you through the planning and implementation process from beginning to end. Learn more about our K-12 consulting team.

Software consulting

As an objective partner, we help you assess, implement, and adopt solutions, including Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, to better serve your community.

Strategic planning

We partner with you to develop strategic plans with a compelling vision, and help you set measurable objectives, identify community impacts, and align resources.

Information security consulting

We help you protect sensitive information by conducting thorough assessments of policies, practices, capabilities, critical gaps, and opportunities for improvements.

Information and technology management

From evaluating your current IT environment to assessing cybersecurity threats, we develop plans that align with your needs and advance your goals. Learn more about our technology management team.

IT strategic planning

We help you create an IT strategic plan that identifies, prioritizes, and builds a case for your IT investment and helps ensure investments align with business objectives.

IT management and operational assessments

Our consultants look holistically at your IT program, objectively assess IT operations, organization, and service delivery, and provide actionable recommendations.

Staffing assessments

We provide an unbiased analysis of current and optimal IT staffing levels, organization, and utilization to help you identify critical gaps and areas for improvement.

Data management

We help you develop data governance programs, policies, initiatives, and implementation frameworks to help ensure that your data is secure.

Information security

We help you protect sensitive information by conducting thorough assessments of policies, practices, capabilities, critical gaps, and opportunities for improvements.

IT project management

We use proven project management principles and scale them to keep clients informed of progress while keeping projects on time and on budget.

Utility operations

Drawing on decades of experience and subject matter expertise, our rate review, process analysis, and technology planning services help improve the efficiency, service, and confidence of our government utility clients. Our team has the experience necessary to analyze and optimize current business processes, plan for and implement replacement technology tools, and update rate schedules to meet current and future operating needs. Learn more about our utility operations consulting team.

Business process improvement

We help you develop improved processes, policies, and technology to best support your operations, improving efficiency and service delivery to your stakeholders.

Software consulting

We use deep knowledge of utility processes, technical expertise, and proven methodologies to help you plan and implement CIS systems, smart meters, and payment portals.

Services

Enterprise and departmental strategic planning

Advising at the enterprise and department level, we partner with you to develop an action-oriented strategic plan.

ERP
consulting

We help you manage risk, plan, assess, and implement when you’re transitioning to a new ERP system.

IT consulting and strategic planning

We guide you through the strategic technology planning process to lay the groundwork for your IT investment.

Organizational design and change management

We guide your team through change by using strategies that promote the buy-in and consensus to positively impact adoption, acceptance, and overall project success.

Business
process improvement

We help you manage the people side of change to help ensure that your system is successfully adopted by users.

Project
management

We provide project management services to help ensure your project stays on schedule and on budget.

What to expect at BerryDunn

Focused on inspiring organizations to transform and innovate, BerryDunn’s Local Government Practice Group can help you solve your biggest challenges for your organization as a whole and in specific areas. Our team is comprised of broadly specialized consultants and former local government employees that exclusively serve local government clients.

We provide expertise in areas including finance and administration, community development, technology management, justice and public safety, parks and recreation, and health and community services. Our focus is on practical and actionable plans, using principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion in our recommendations.

About us

Meet our professionals

Seth Hedstrom

Principal

Charles Snow

Chief Operating Officer of Consulting Services

Doug Rowe

Principal

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Industries we serve

Industry

Technology Management

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featured news + insights events success stories

Press release

Sam Eisenbeiser Joins BerryDunn to Launch Economic Development Consulting Services

Event

2024 CSMFO Annual Conference

Article

Into the wild: Building a business case for a new enterprise technology project

Podcast

Recruiting and Retaining All-Star Employees

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Building buy-in during system replacement

Success story

Consolidating and modernizing: City ERP implementation

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Pflugerville Wants to Be the Best: Innovation in Parks and Recreation

Speaking engagements

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Testimonials

"In my 35+ years as a software consultant and IT director, this is the smoothest conversion I have ever experienced, and a lot of the credit goes to BerryDunn and their team of qualified professionals."

Brian Scott

IT Director

City of Wilmington, NC

"In times of uncertainty, having the right partner makes all the difference. I can say with confidence that BerryDunn was an active contributor and co-author of a plan that better positioned our organization for growth and a brighter future. BerryDunn took the time to understand our organization at its core—appreciating our staff's passion for their roles and the constituents they serve. BerryDunn helped us become even more dynamic and removed the fear of losing what brought us here to begin with. With an eye for care and detail, BerryDunn encouraged us to embrace change so we could better serve our community."

Shon Sylvia

Executive Director

Metro Parks Tacoma, WA

"The experience and knowledge of the entire team was evident from the very start of this assessment. Their methodology and processes were very inclusive and directly tied to the scope of work that we requested. All Department Heads and Elected Officials had the opportunity to participate in the project and provide input on their current and future IT needs. There was constant involvement and communication with the internal project team; accordingly, there were no surprises and/or missed deliverables associated with this assessment."

Arnel R. Wetzel, Jr.

HR Director

Galveston County, TX

"The BerryDunn team is knowledgeable and professional and took the time to understand our department's needs and consistently provided valuable insight. Their assessment exceeded our expectations and their recommendations provided a roadmap for future development and improvement. "

Rob Burdess

Chief of Police

City of Newton, IA

"The City of Philadelphia hired BerryDunn as a planning consultant for two Streets Department projects. BerryDunn's staff applied valuable industry and government knowledge to produce a requirements package that hit all expectations and added significant value to the projects."

John Malcarney

City of Philadelphia

Local government consulting

Strategic solutions for better communities

Independent and objective government consulting

Areas of expertise

Community development

Finance and administration

Health services

Justice and public safety

Parks, recreation, and libraries

Schools and educational services

Information and technology management

Utility operations

Services

What to expect at BerryDunn

Meet our professionals

Industries we serve

Featured content

Articles

Podcasts

Press Releases

Conferences and tradeshows

Podcasts

Speaking engagements

Success Stories

Testimonials

Contact us