Solutions become less mysterious when you work with us.
We start by listening.
Our team believes the people closest to a problem understand it better than anyone else. That’s why we don’t lead with a prepackaged solution or a recycled playbook from somewhere else. We start by asking questions informed by our combined four decades of experience. Questions like…
How big is the problem, and how do we prove it?
Is the problem the root cause or a symptom of something else?
Are there unique impacts that the problem has on specific areas or groups of people?
Have we explored all the reasonable alternatives?
What kind of impacts can we realistically expect from solving the problem?
Does the solution match the scale and structure of the challenge?
How do we explain it clearly to the people who need to support it?
Once a solution is implemented, how do we measure success?
We ask these questions through stakeholder interviews, public surveys, and focused conversations with the people who know the issue best. In doing this, our goal is simple: surface the local knowledge that too often gets ignored or drowned out.
Then we analyze.
Our team organizes and study the data to make sense of what we’ve heard. We validate or update the accepted understanding of the problems and the prospective solutions. We test assumptions, not just confirm them. We use tools like Benefit-Cost Analysis and Economic Impact Analysis to model the expected outcomes. Our job isn’t to write something that just sounds good, it’s to figure out what’s real and what will actually work. We’re not interested in building reports that sit on a shelf collecting dust or developing plans that tell you where you need to be but not how to get there. Every analysis we do, every report we write, and every plan we assemble is meant to support action.
At last, we translate.
Even the best local ideas can fall flat if they’re not communicated clearly. We help bridge the gap between what our clients know and what outside decision-makers need to understand.
Sometimes we’re translating for a federal grant reviewer. Sometimes for the public, who need to trust the process before they’ll support the outcome.
Sometimes that translation involves taking a simple idea and creating the technical, quantifiable justification necessary to validate its implementation. Sometimes it’s about taking a complex, messy challenge and making it easier to understand.
Our work turns context and analysis into clarity. The result is something grounded, useful, and ready to move.
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William Carey University 10-Year Economic Impact Analysis
William Carey University has experienced rapid growth over the past decade, expanding its programs, campuses, and footprint across Mississippi. As the university prepared to launch a major capital campaign, leadership needed a clear, credible way to demonstrate how their work was already driving economic development across the region.
We developed a full economic impact analysis for the university, showing how it contributes to education, healthcare, and workforce development in a way that leads to job creation, income growth, and long-term regional impacts. Using data from both the Hattiesburg and Tradition campuses, we modeled direct, indirect, and induced impacts on employment, earnings, and output at the state and regional levels. We also looked beyond the university’s direct employment and capital investments to the social and economic impact their graduates have on the state.
The result wasn’t just a set of numbers. It was a narrative the university could take to legislators, donors, and community stakeholders. This narrative was grounded in economic reality and aligned with the goals of their campaign. Our work helped connect the university’s mission to its measurable public value.
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City of Hattiesburg, MS Needs Assessment and Gap Analysis
We conducted a comprehensive Needs Assessment and Gap Analysis for the City of Hattiesburg to identify the most urgent challenges facing the city’s unhoused population, housing-insecure residents, and the service providers that support them. Our work included stakeholder interviews, a community-wide survey, and data analysis using publicly available sources and GIS mapping. We met directly with nonprofits, housing providers, and advocacy organizations to understand both systemic gaps and day-to-day realities.
Our final report helped the City cut through assumptions and focus on evidence. It identified the need for an overnight emergency shelter as the highest-impact investment, and that recommendation is now guiding how the City allocates its ARPA funds.
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Puerto Rico Department of Housing, HUD Disaster Mitigation BCAs
After Hurricanes Irma and Maria, the PRDOH received billions in federal funding through HUD’s Community Development Block Grant–Mitigation (CDBG-MIT) program. For large-scale infrastructure investments, HUD introduced a new requirement: any project over $100 million (with at least $50 million in HUD funding) had to complete a Benefit-Cost Analysis (BCA). The problem? Most project sponsors had never done one.
We were brought in as subject matter experts to help make this new process workable. Starting in 2022, we worked with the prime grant administration contractor to design the internal policies, templates, and review processes for HUD-compliant BCAs. While each subrecipient is responsible for completing the analysis for their own project, we provide hands-on technical support, guidance, and internal review for every Covered Project.
Our work helps bridge the gap between HUD’s federal requirements and Puerto Rico’s local infrastructure goals, turning an unfamiliar mandate into a meaningful decision-making tool. The first Covered Project, the PR-10 highway extension, is under construction and will bring improved access to a remote mountainous region of the island.