Approving a contract with EverStrive Solutions to provide strategic planning facilitation services and authorizing the City Administrator to execute an agreement in a total amount up to $65,000.

The City issued a Request for Proposals on August 26, 2026, seeking a qualified consultant to assist the City Council and City Administration in developing the City's next strategic planning framework. The desired process is intended to establish a limited number of meaningful, community-focused strategic priorities; create alignment around the collective interests of the City Council and organization; distinguish strategic policy priorities from operational matters; and provide direction for development of an organizational action plan with measurable outcomes. The City received a total of five proposals in response to the RFP.

After reviewing the five proposals and conducting consultant interviews, staff recommends selecting EverStrive Solutions. EverStrive was one of the highest-rated firms through the evaluation process and proposed one of the lowest costs for the City Council scope. In addition to its proposed approach, relevant experience, facilitation capabilities, and project team, EverStrive is Minnesota-based, demonstrated the ability to meet the City's desired project schedule, and provided a strong approach for extending the strategic planning process to the City's Charter Boards should those options be approved. Taken together, these factors provide strong overall value to the City. EverStrive's proposed cost for the City Council strategic planning work is $26,600 and organizational action planning is $5,400. The process will begin with project preparation and organizational assessment and culminate in City Council strategic priority setting and development of an organizational action plan aligned with the City's biennial budget process.

The RFP also requested optional proposals for strategic planning processes for the Parks & Recreation Board and Rochester Public Utilities Board. These efforts are intended to build upon the information and organizational themes developed through the City Council process and align the respective boards' strategic priorities with broader City direction while recognizing each board's distinct responsibilities. EverStrive's proposal offers an opportunity to build efficiently on the City Council process and carry that work forward with both Charter Boards, creating a unique opportunity for nested alignment of goals and action planning. EverStrive proposed $16,500 for each Board's strategic planning process, resulting in a combined contract amount of $65,000. 

The strategic planning process is intended to incorporate community, employee, department, partner, City leadership, and City Council perspectives in establishing priorities for the organization. The process will provide an opportunity to consider how City priorities and future resource decisions equitably affect the community and to establish measurable outcomes that can be used to evaluate progress.

The City Council has previously established strategic priorities and foundational principles that guide organizational work and resource decisions. The proposed strategic planning process will review existing priorities and accomplishments, incorporate employee, department, community, partner, and Council input, and establish the next set of City Council strategic priorities. Community engagement conducted through this process will be designed to inform Council decision-making while building upon, rather than duplicating, existing City engagement and planning efforts.

The recommended contract amount is $65,000, consisting of $26,600 for City Council Strategic Planning, $5,400 for organizational action planning, $16,500 for Parks & Recreation Board Strategic Planning, and $16,500 for Rochester Public Utilities Board Strategic Planning. The $32,000 City Council strategic planning and action planning scope will be funded through the City Administration Professional Services budget. The Parks & Recreation and RPU scopes will be funded by the respective department operating budgets.

No alternative actions are recommended at this time.