ADRIAN — A special meeting was in order last week for the Adrian City Commission to field presentations about the services that can be provided to the city as it continues to move along in the process of finding its next administrator.
Representatives associated with two firms, Yeo & Yeo HR Advisory Solutions and Double Haul Solutions appeared before the commission March 24 and detailed the various services they can provide to municipalities that are attempting to locate qualified candidates to fill governmental positions. Of special interest to the Adrian City Commission were candidate location services for city administration.
It’s been just a little more than two months since former Adrian City Administrator Greg Elliott retired from his administrative duties Jan. 28. Since Elliott’s departure from the city of Adrian, Police Chief Vince Emrick has been employed as acting administrator. Many of his policing duties have been delegated to Deputy Chief Larry Van Alstine.
The proposals presented to the commission last week were very similar in nature, as summarized by Adrian Mayor Angie Sword Heath. The special meeting lasted for about 1 1/2 hours to hear from the two firms.
“It’s going to be an interesting decision, to be really honest,” Heath said after last week’s meeting. “… There are a lot of similarities but there is also a very different approach to it, as well. What works best for our community, may not work best for another community or vice versa.”
More: Adrian’s city administrator search moves along; commission plans March 24 special meeting
Because the commission heard initial facts and figures from Yeo & Yeo and Double Haul Solutions last week, there were not any recommendations made for hiring one of the two firms just yet. The commission is expected to discuss each of the search firms during its regularly scheduled first meeting in April, Monday, April 7. The commission also is expected to have a resolution ready to go for possible action during next week’s regular meeting on which firm to hire to begin the city administrator search process.
Yeo & Yeo and Double Haul Solutions both provided charges/estimate of costs for services including annual reviews, leadership training and team building on top of the processes that will be utilized to post the city’s vacancy, conduct applicant interviews and hold stakeholder meetings.
City commissioners and Heath said they believe rushing through the search process is not the right answer, even though a city administrator is needed in Adrian.
“Rushing into it is not the right answer, as well. And that even comes down to picking the correct firm for us,” Heath said. “I feel we might have rushed in the past; into a firm, not a candidate.”
From February 2025: City of Adrian OK’s retirement agreement with Greg Elliott; Emrick tabbed as acting administrator
Yeo & Yeo: ‘We just love supporting municipalities’
A professional services firm based in Ypsilanti; Yeo & Yeo HR Advisory Solutions was founded in 2015 by Amy Cell as Amy Cell Talent with a focus on affordable recruiting services. The firm was acquired and took on the name Yeo & Yeo starting Jan. 1, 2025.
After merging with Yeo & Yeo, the human resources firm now carries a team of 24 employees who provide a full suite of HR services and support.
In Michigan, Yeo & Yeo has worked with several municipalities providing recruiting services as well as compensation study services and fractional HR. Some of those municipalities having worked with Yeo & Yeo include the cities of Ann Arbor, Dearborn, Grand Rapids, Holland, Jackson, Ypsilanti and Scio Township, to name a few.
“We just love supporting municipalities, in particular,” Cell said during her presentation to the city commission. “My parents were both elected officials, I worked in state government and it’s just an honor to help the people who help our communities in Michigan.”
Cell’s presentation covered a timeline of the administrator search that included a sample city administrator evaluation form that could be used as part of Adrian’s integrated strategic and leadership plan. The search components for finding a city administrator include vision alignment, marketing, assessing, interviewing, negotiating and onboarding.
The first step in the process is crucial, Cell said, as it gets key stakeholders on the same page about what success for an administrator search should look like. This includes one-on-one meetings with city commissioners, department heads and a community survey to make sure the community engagement aligns with the city’s strategic vision.
“It is very important to make sure we have a very clear target about what we’re working towards,” Cell said.
Candidates who are gleaned through Yeo & Yeo’s process should ultimately meet the city’s criteria and expectations.
Communication skills, leadership style and management characteristics, people management, community development and human resources are some key attributes municipalities often want to see in city administration candidates, Cell said.
In a recent administrator search handled by Yeo & Yeo, the village of Beverly Hills in 2025, generated 144 applicants, 12 applicants presented, and five applicants interviewed.
“A lot of people will apply, but we really do a lot to vet the serious candidates, and our goal is to present 7-10 candidates because we want to make sure there’s a nice selection and choice,” Cell said. “Usually, around three candidates will be brought in to be interviewed.”
On-site interviews of potential city administrator candidates are supported with tours, meetings with city staff and the city commission, and possibly even a community reception. All of these allow for feedback from the candidates to be gathered.
Relocation guidance, if a candidate is from out of state, is part of the negotiating and onboarding process, Cell said. That is in addition to any onboarding support, coaching from Yeo & Yeo representatives and feedback sessions after six months on the job.
The close to 10 search components included in Yeo & Yeo’s services package, with a one-year guarantee, totals $19,500.
By Yeo & Yeo’s timeline, it is possible — if the planning stages started sometime in April — for the new administrator’s onboarding to begin in August.
Yeo & Yeo’s contract with the city would continue after the search is complete and a hire has been made, Cell said. Task updates, strategic planning, project management and leadership development training are among some of the services Yeo & Yeo provides for further integration between a new administrator and a municipality.
Support local news and subscribe: For all the latest local developments, breaking news, and high school and college sports cont
Double Haul Solutions: Putting ‘time and effort into helping other communities’
When Nate Geinzer completed his time working as a city manager, he said he decided to start up Double Haul Solutions where he could “put my time and effort into helping other communities,” he explained.
Geinzer, the founder and CEO of Double Haul Solutions, began his local government career in 2005. As the founder of Double Haul Solutions, he said he has dedicated his career to helping governments build stronger relationships, align their strategies and overcome challenges to achieve their goals.
Some of the successes he highlighted included strategic planning, interim management, economic development and organizational leadership with experience partnering in communities like Traverse City, Berkley, Northville, Lexington, DeWitt Charter Township and Tecumseh.
Leadership teamwork was completed in Tecumseh about two years ago, Geinzer said. The city of Tecumseh is now working on its goal setting with assistance from Double Haul Solutions.
The village of Dundee is another regional search completed by Double Haul Solutions — which is currently working in Ottawa County on the western side of the state with its county administration.
Many of Double Haul Solutions’ team members have been in local government for 10 or more years.
“We tend to be a little more candid in our process when we speak with the elected bodies as well as our candidates if we get into the process and we identify there are some issues” Geinzer said. “We’re going to be honest about it. Because we don’t want our candidates to come in and run into this issue, be blindsided and now we’ve started the relationship off on the wrong foot right away. That’s usually a quick way to short circuit the relationship.”
From The Holland Sentinel: ‘Expedited but thorough’: Ottawa County has selected a firm for administrator search
While recruiting and building a profile of a city administrator for Adrian, Double Haul Solutions also will work with city staff on each stage of the executive recruitment. Double Haul Solutions will become educated about the Adrian community through communication with city commissioners and city staff, who “are critical when you’re bringing on a new city manager,” Geinzer said.
“(Staff) don’t get a say (about who gets hired as the next city administrator) and we make that very clear,” he said. “But these are the people who are going to be working with this individual day-in and day-out, and there are oftentimes very valuable insights that they’re going to be able to offer.”
Conversations with community members can take shape in many ways (open houses, stakeholder group conversations, surveys, etc.). Double Haul Solutions will seek out candidates who are cultural fits for a community, while also being qualified for the position. The firm will have continuous communication with the new hire during a 3-month onboarding process, a 6-month check-in and a 1-year evaluation.
Geinzer described some strategies that could be taken to market Adrian, leading off with the city’s historic downtown and some of its vacant storefronts, which he said could be viewed as a challenge for a new administrator but also as an opportunity.
“I don’t know too many city managers who go into this profession because they think it’s going to be easy,” he said. “It’s the challenge, it’s the hard work that draws them to public service.”
More: New trash and recycling carts being delivered in Tecumseh: What to know
Anywhere from 10-15 candidates, depending on the pool size, will be brought before the city commission in a closed session for review of candidate applications. From there, the top 3-5 candidates will be selected for interviews, which will be at least a maximum of 75 minutes.
“We’re here to help you get the best candidate we can get you in the climate that we’re in for what it is that you’re looking for,” Geinzer said.
Double Haul Solutions’ base search costs a total of $15,495 which includes an onboarding plan, three months of administrative coaching, community engagement, background checks, interview and travel consideration of potential administrator candidates. There are extra costs for administrative add-ons the city might be interested in pursuing such as leadership training and an administrative review, for example.
The timeline for Double Haul Solutions to complete a city administrator search for Adrian would take about 14 weeks.
— Contact reporter Brad Heineman at bheineman@lenconnect.com or follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @LenaweeHeineman.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Special meeting allows Adrian commission to hear city administrator search firm proposals
Reporting by Brad Heineman, The Daily Telegram / The Daily Telegram
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
