The Rochester Housing Authority (RHA) provides public housing, Section 8 and/or other housing-related services for more than 22,000 low income or disabled residents in the 5-county Rochester NY region. CGR provided consultant and facilitation services to assist the agency as it developed its first comprehensive strategic plan. The engagement included approximately 50 interviews with internal and external stakeholders; an agency-wide employee survey; resident council focus group session; and numerous strategic planning events with key stakeholders.

As part of a strategic planning process, the Town of Victor NY engaged CGR to perform a community service benchmarking study, comparing the town against a group of peer communities on a variety of fiscal, governmental and service delivery measures. The study’s purpose was not just to target the town’s strengths, but more importantly to identify where its performance is not as strong. The Town’s goal is to craft improvement strategies by learning from, and leveraging knowledge gained from peer communities.

CGR supported the Rochester (NY) Roman Catholic Diocese as its Catholic Schools Task Force confronted the challenge of declining enrollment and the financial viability of the schools in Monroe County. CGR provided analytical and procedural support for the Task Force, which eventually recommended the closure of more than half of the Diocese's 24 schools. Consolidation  to 11 schools made possible a 30% reduction in tuition.

CGR was engaged by the City Manager of Elmira NY to work with the city’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Fiscal Stability. CGR analyzed all city operations, reviewed city finances, and helped the commission craft recommendations to improve fiscal stability. CGR evaluated strategies to restructure city operations, and developed cross-government regional approaches for providing fire, police and public works services.

In a 5 year engagement with the New York Power Authority (NYPA), CGR planned and facilitated NYPA’s annual 4 day Strategic Planning Conferences. Topics addressed by conference participants included the role of public power in a deregulated energy marketplace, the economics of merchant power development, the benefits and costs of new energy technology, and the NYPA’s role in economic development. CGR compiled the agenda through interviews with New York’s key energy industry stakeholders and invited many speakers to participate in the CGR-led events.