HomeMy WebLinkAbout07272026 City Council Laydown - City ManagerLaydown from City Manager 7/27/2026
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Northern Compass Group
FROM: Northern Compass Group LLC
Date: April 15, 2025
RE: Proposal to provide facilitation services
WHO WE ARE
Northern Compass Group (NCG) LLC is an Anchorage -based small business made up of
seasoned professionals who have collectively spent decades working on policy development and
implementation at the municipal, state and federal levels as well as in the private sector.
The NCG team has worked extensively with tribal governments, village corporations, municipal
governments, unions, Alaska Native Corporations, state and federal agencies, non-profit
organizations, legislative bodies, corporations, small businesses and various stakeholder groups.
Our past and current work includes downtown Anchorage revitalization projects, hotel and real-
estate development and management, financing, commercial construction & renovation
management, Alaska energy issues, corporate mergers, board compliance and problem solving,
strategic advisement to community and business leaders, business restructuring, grocery logistics
and tourism business development.
We help clients at every stage of a process from initial strategic planning and data collection to
external communication efforts such as town hall meetings or press events.
OUR APPROACH
Northern Compass Group (NCG) stands prepared to support Seward leaders as they examine
options for energy production and/or resiliency for the future. We will apply our years of public
and private sector experience to bring together individuals who are innovative, collaborative, and
desire positive change for Seward that will benefit the community at large.
We understand the importance of dynamic group facilitation and will work to find areas on
which all parties agree in order to determine next steps. In recent projects we have worked with
business leaders, nonprofit leaders, investors, neighborhood and community leaders, current and
past municipal officials, youth, seniors and civic organizations to name a few. We will utilize this
experience to convene and facilitate productive group meetings.
SCOPE OF WORK
We understand the City of Seward may be interested in exploring options for future public utility
operations including ownership models, management options and financial structures associated
with each of these potential pathways.
While stakeholders may have varying opinions on what to do regarding Seward's energy future,
we will work to bring decision makers together and use a mapping exercise to find areas where
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all agree. We will then help the group determine what options are most viable by process of
elimination and help find areas of consensus to move forward on any given plan of action.
We see this happening in three phases. Phase one of this process could include:
Phase 1 Leadership Alignment
• Gather and understand current events and past history regarding recent attempts to
sell/acquire/expand Seward's current electrical utility.
• Review current grant funded energy storage project and any other elements of the current
or near future of electrical utility system.
• Help to identify and recruit internal participants from Seward city departments, and/or
governing bodies for initial discussion and mapping exercise.
• Conduct 1 to 2 meetings with the group identified to determine feasibility of doing
something new.
• Finalize short list of agreed upon options — determine whether to move forward and
according action steps.
Phase 2 Internal Alignment
• Assist initial group to brainstorm and/or recruit local government entities, non-profit
organizations, elected or appointed leaders or those from the community at large for
second phase project scoping.
• Conduct short series of meetings with those identified to explore then narrow down any
options identified.
• Guide stakeholder group through one or more sessions to draw out detailed plan that can
be realistically implemented.
• Work with group on timeline and communication plan, and identify individuals or
entities to implement.
Phase 3 Implementation and Communication Plan
• Draft a list of recommendations based all meetings for actionable steps and a
communication plan for community education and initial roll out. This list will be given
to leadership of stakeholder group. Further implementation will require a separate
contract and scope of work.
DELIVERABLES & FEE PROPOSAL
We will convene and facilitate an appropriate number of internal and external meetings. Then,
we will produce a list of options, actions needed and general timeline with the goal of creating a
document to present to the Seward City Council in the fall of 2025.
For this work, we would propose the following:
Phase 1: Flat fee of $5,000
We are happy to discuss any items on this scope and will work to finalize a work plan.
Please contact Schawna Thoma at 907-229-9594 or
SchawnaThoma@NorthernCompassGroup.com with any questions.
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