Operational Excellence Starts Local

As a management consulting firm, Kafferlin Strategies partners with local government leaders to bring clarity and order to their operations. We roll up our sleeves, work alongside your team, and help align finances, governance, and day-to-day operations so your community can flourish.

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We're Project Partners (Not Just Consultants)

We partner with local government officials to reframe challenges, refine processes, and reorganize how their institutions operate. By providing thoughtful evaluation, practical training, and effective management services, we help public servants fulfill their calling of stewardship and performance.

Services

Planning

Have you ever felt like you’re constantly moving from one crisis to another, or noticed that your team agrees on a plan but struggles to follow through? We understand these challenges. Our team is here to assist you in evaluating the status quo, strategizing an actionable plan, and providing project management support to ensure accountability to your commitments.

Management

Have you ever faced the sudden departure of key staff, or been thrust into a crisis requiring an immediate expansion of your team? We’re prepared to address these challenges. Whether it’s filling interim positions, managing turnover without a succession plan in place, or overseeing a temporary project or process reform, our approach is hands-on. We follow a do, teach, coach model, ensuring lasting solutions and knowledge transfer.

Finance

Are you familiar with the struggles of deferred maintenance or the lack of funds to meet your capital needs? Does it feel like you’re always playing catch-up, pouring resources into maintaining equipment that’s at the end of its life? We specialize in helping you gain the financial footing necessary to stay ahead of your needs, ensuring you can invest wisely and avoid the cycle of constant repair and replacement.

Local Government Services

Capital Improvement Planning

11/14/2022

Public Affairs

10/25/2022

Interim Management

10/25/2022

Social Impact Partnerships

10/25/2022

Organizational Health Assessment

05/04/2022

360 Employee Review

05/04/2022

Business Process Analysis and Development

05/04/2022

Leadership Coaching

05/04/2022

Grant Writing

05/04/2022

Strategic Planning

05/04/2022

Project Management

05/04/2022

Crisis Communications

05/04/2022

Executive Search & Recruitment

07/13/2020

Team

Ben Kafferlin

Partner

Policy & Procedure Management

Strategic Planning, Design and Implementation

Community & Economic Development

County Government Management

814-313-1271 Ext: 1001

[email protected]

LinkedIn

Lisa Hagberg

Partner

Fund Accounting, Budgeting, Fiscal Policy

Human Resource Management

Community Development

Municipal Government Management

814-313-1271 Ext: 1059

[email protected]

LinkedIn

Doug Kafferlin

Partner

Policy & Procedure Management

Software, Process & Electrical Engineering

Information Technology

Industrial Economic Development

814-313-1271 Ext: 1058

[email protected]

LinkedIn

Chelsea Puff

Senior Consultant & Program Director

Human Resource Management

Community & Economic Development

Municipal Government Management

Planning, Zoning & Codes

814-313-1271 Ext: 1083

[email protected]

LinkedIn

Nicole Hemminger

Senior Consultant & Development Director

County Management

Interim Management

Budgeting

814-313-1271 Ext. 1092

[email protected]

Nikki Kephart

Operations Director

Communications

Policies & Procedures

814-313-1271 Ext. 1024

[email protected]

Jeff Davidek

Senior Consultant

Pension Management

Financial Analysis

Forecasting

814-313-1271 Ext: 1074

[email protected]

LinkedIn

Christine Matteson

Senior Consultant

Environmental Compliance

Grant Writing

Grant Administration

814-313-1271 Ext: 1018

[email protected]

LinkedIn

Maryann Menanno

Senior Consultant

Municipal Management

Community & Economic Development

Grant Writing & Administration

814-313-1271 Ext. 1064

[email protected]

Shawn Arbaugh

Senior Consultant

Municipal Management

Community & Economic Development

Grant Writing & Administration

814-313-1271 ext. 1077

[email protected]

Seth Higgins

Senior Consultant

County Management

Financial Management

Strategic Planning

814-313-1271 Ext: 1086

[email protected]

LinkedIn

Kerri Boozer

Account Manager

Fund Accounting

Nonprofit Governance

Fiscal Management

814-313-1271 Ext. 1099

[email protected]

Joe Mitchell

Senior Consultant

Emergency Services

Budget & Forecasting

Grant Writing & Compliance

814-313-1271 Ext. 1095

[email protected]

Heidi Ekey

Content Development Specialist

Research & Writing

Content Development

Copyediting

814-313-1271 Ext. 1097

[email protected]

LinkedIn

Brian Zeybel

Law Enforcement Specialist

Investigation

Law Enforcement

Process Design

814-313-1271 Ext. 1079

[email protected]

Reilly Enlow

Fund Accounting Specialist

Fund Accounting

Payroll

Municipal Government

814-313-1271 Ext: 1063

[email protected]

LinkedIn

Jasson Urey

Municipal Government Specialist

Municipal Management

Home Rule

Budgeting

814-313-1271 Ext. 1089

[email protected]

Andrew Smith

Software Development Specialist

Software Design & Coding

Website Development

IT Systems Administration

814-313-1271 Ext: 1043

[email protected]

LinkedIn

Andrii Horban

Software Development Specialist

Software Development

Technology Integration

814-313-1271 Ext: 1071

[email protected]

Abhilash Alexander

Software Development Specialist

Software Development

AI Integration

814-313-1271 Ext: 1091

[email protected]

Tushaar Sehgal

Software Development Specialist

AI Integration

Software Development

814-313-1271 Ext: 1093

[email protected]

Kelsey Pohlig

Data Analysis Specialist

Data Cleanup

Data Analysis

Data Research

814-313-1271 Ext. 1084

[email protected]

Robert Keth

Associate

Fee Schedules

814-313-1271 Ext. 1096

[email protected]

MaKenna McCall

Associate

Record Digitization

814-313-1271 Ext. 1094

[email protected]

Affiliates

Rosie Marketing

Schmidt Law Firm

9Point

Rossbacher Insurance

J.L. Nick
& Associates

CapozziGroup

ScanTek

Gabriel Fera

Strategy
Solutions Inc.

Newsroom

The Fiscal Reports Your Local Government Actually Needs

by Ben Kafferlin | 01/13/2026 | Featured, Publications | 0 Comments

A check run tells you what you paid. It doesn’t tell you whether you’re on track, whether you have enough cash next month, whether a fund is quietly sinking, or whether you’re borrowing from your future. It’s like looking at your Amazon order history and calling it a retirement plan… Decision‑useful information beats perfect information. If your board or manager can’t tell what the numbers mean, you’re handing them data, not insight.

Flying Blind Isn’t a Strategy

by Ben Kafferlin | 01/06/2026 | Featured, Publications | 0 Comments

Flying Blind Isn’t a Strategy It’s a Horror Movie on a Budget If you’ve ever tried to drive at night with your headlights off, you already understand bad financial reporting. Technically, the car is still moving. Technically, you’re “making progress.” But you’re one...

Re-Imagining Public Service

by Ben Kafferlin | 05/03/2023 | Featured, Publications | 0 Comments

Re-imaging Public ServiceA Podcast with Nancy Hess Listen HereGovernment and politics are subjects banned at many family dinners and reunions. Everyone has strong opinions about what is or is not being done by their elected officials and it seems as though no one can...

Public Administry

by Ben Kafferlin | 03/29/2023 | Featured, Publications | 0 Comments

Public Administry A Partial Vision for a "Dominionated World" You don't need to be a Latin expert to notice the connection between "ministry" and "administration." Understanding the etymology of these words can reveal important insights into their meaning and how the...

Maintaining Management with ‘POSDCORB’

by Ben Kafferlin | 03/10/2023 | Featured, Publications | 0 Comments

Maintaining Management with "POSDCORB"When Luther Gulick and Lyndall Urwick, members of President Roosevelt’s administrative committee, originally penned their thoughts about the structure of administration in 1935, they had no way of knowing the impact it would have...

SMART versus QQTR

by Ben Kafferlin | 12/19/2022 | Featured, Publications | 0 Comments

We all know how frustrating it can be to be late for work in the morning, finally get on the road, and suddenly discover that the fog settled in so thick overnight that you can hardly see the car in front of you. Torn between the need not to be late (again) and...

New Partnership – Creaplan Consulting

by Ben Kafferlin | 12/09/2022 | Featured | 0 Comments

How many days do you leave work feeling like you accomplished little to none of what you intended? Do you ever look at your calendar and feel like you never have a moment to simply breathe? Or perhaps your calendar is far more empty than it should be because...

New Partnership Alert – Scantek

by Ben Kafferlin | 11/28/2022 | Featured | 0 Comments

Far too often, organizations find themselves with piles of paperwork cluttering up their workspace. Entire rooms are often dedicated to the storage of documents, with shelves of information stacked high. These rooms are often cluttered and hard to navigate, leaving...

Too Busy Not To

by Ben Kafferlin | 10/07/2022 | Featured, Publications | 0 Comments

As the nature of industry has shifted in recent years to accommodate more agile businesses such as small manufacturing job shops, creative agencies, and freelance workers, the idea of having a business management system has started to disappear. The millennial...

Benchmarking

by Ben Kafferlin | 05/02/2022 | Featured | 0 Comments

Just as benchmarks provided surveyors with a consistent placement to build upon, Kafferlin Strategies seeks to help organizations discover their full potential by benchmarking. We help clients understand themselves, recognize where they are in the landscape, set guidelines within which the organization can operate, and establish parameters of success. Only with an honest assessment do we have a sure foundation from which to build upon. That is to say, from our perspective, benchmarking is an integral part – even the first step – of strategic planning and implementation.

Testimonials

Kafferlin Strategies… provided interim management services and not only did they apply for numerous grants—half a dozen from Pennsylvania and an equal number from federal sources—but they also significantly improved our accounting processes. Their leadership in strategic planning and their adept representation of our organization were very helpful. Ben was a turn-key solution for us, bringing deep knowledge of management and local government operations. At the same time, their team-based approach meant they had a bench of specialized consultants in grant writing, fund accounting, development finance, and technology, as needed. We benefited from specialized skills without the overhead of a larger permanent team. I found the collaboration not just effective but transformative.

Kristy E.

Chair, Redevelopment Authority

We have had the opportunity to work with Kafferlin Strategies on several assignments. Two characteristics of their work have really impressed me – they are objective and effective!

Wayne Jackson

President, Country Manor Management Services

The Kafferlin Strategies team was a great assistant to us all. […] Separating fact from fiction, and uncovering the necessary details […] was no easy undertaking. That task was ably performed by our research team. Well done.

Rick Santorum

U.S. Senator, Presidential Candidate

Thanks to the persistent direction and planning of the Kafferlin Strategies team, my intricate vision is bearing fruit. We owe much to their organizational wherewithal, strategic know-how and academic expertise, as well as their ability to brand, market and promote my message most effectively.

Dr. John Diamond

Executive Director, Peacemakers Outreach

Working with Kafferlin Strategies has been a pleasure for me as I work to set up my non-profit organization. Their professionalism and attention to detail has presented me with options to help me implement my vision. The advice and suggestions that have been offered have been sound and very appropriate for the organization’s direction.

Lynne Mattioli

Executive Director, Rachel's Cry

I was thoroughly impressed by Ben and Lisa’s unwavering commitment and willingness to drop everything to assist me. Their deep expertise in restructuring and applying organizational theory proved to be both practically and tactically invaluable. They skillfully navigated complex interpersonal dynamics with a fresh and innovative approach. Ben and Lisa developed iterative scenarios for board action that greatly facilitated the achievement of our long-term goals.

John

Chair, Pennsylvania Township

Clients

Ready to transform your local government into a model of efficiency?

Begin with our Operational Standards Evaluation (OSE)

We partner with CiviLink to give you access to our assessment inspired by the Baldrige Excellence Framework, specially tailored for Pennsylvania local governments.

Request