Building Strategic Resilience through Fractional Sources
This will sound obvious: Long-term strategy is the backbone of effective state and local governance, providing a clear vision that aligns resources, guides decision-making, and ensures communities are prepared for both challenges and opportunities. When governments look beyond immediate pressures and daily operations, they can build resilient and fiscally responsible organizations that serve citizens better over time.
Take Amherst, New Hampshire. Their approach to resilient strategy demonstrates the transformative impact of long-term planning. Before adopting a strategic approach in 2017, Amherst faced repeated budget defaults, unclear priorities, and a lack of public trust. By engaging citizens and officials in a collaborative process to define shared goals and desired outcomes, Amherst shifted from reactive management to proactive, data-driven governance. Department heads and elected officials used strategic thinking to develop multi-year initiatives, operational plans, and budgets, and they communicated transparently with residents about tradeoffs and progress. This approach not only stabilized finances but also built a culture of accountability and continuous improvement, with annual plan updates ensuring ongoing relevance and adaptability.
Elsewhere in Cary, North Carolina, we can see a compelling example of how a long-term strategic approach can transform local government and drive sustainable growth. After several years of unprecedented community engagement and technical analysis, Cary adopted the Imagine Cary Community Plan in 2017, a comprehensive vision extending all the way to 2040. This plan was not simply a document on a shelf, but a living, evolving strategy that has since been updated to address new challenges and incorporate fresh insights, most recently in 2024.
The Imagine Cary planning process was remarkable for its inclusivity and depth. Town leaders recognized that their existing patchwork of more than twenty planning documents was no longer sufficient for the complexity of a rapidly growing and changing community. Instead, they embarked on a four-year effort to consolidate and update all plans into a single, integrated framework. This process was intentionally designed to be transparent and participatory, with extensive public input gathered through in-person events, workshops, and online engagement. Thousands of residents contributed ideas and feedback, ensuring that the resulting plan reflected the community’s shared values and aspirations.
Still, many state and local agencies struggle to implement and sustain long-term strategies due to limited internal expertise, budget constraints, or the need for specialized knowledge at key moments. This is where fractional sourcing, as provided by Fractional Source, offers a compelling solution. By connecting agencies to experienced professionals on a part-time or project basis, fractional sourcing delivers high-level expertise without the commitment or cost of full-time hires. This model allows governments to access the skills they need when they need them.
The practical benefits of fractional sourcing are evident in both the public and private sectors. For instance, government contractors have leveraged fractional CFOs to gain strategic financial insight, supporting profitable growth and more informed decision-making without overextending their budgets. These arrangements provide on-demand access to seasoned professionals who can guide organizations through complex decisions, drive innovation, and ensure that strategic goals are met. Similarly, state and local governments can use fractional experts to lead digital transformation projects, modernize service delivery, or navigate emerging regulatory landscapes. These are all initiatives that require specialized knowledge but may not justify a permanent position.
Fractional sourcing is especially valuable in today’s rapidly changing environment, where governments must adapt to new technologies, evolving regulations, and shifting community needs. By bringing in targeted expertise as needed, agencies can remain agile, maximize every dollar, and keep long-term plans on track, even as circumstances change.
The value of long-term strategy for state and local government is clear: it enables better financial management, fosters innovation, builds resilience, and creates a shared vision that unites officials, staff, and citizens. By supplementing internal capacity with leaders from Fractional Source, agencies can overcome resource limitations and ensure that their strategic plans are not only visionary but also actionable and sustainable for the future.