Community & Local Government Relations

“Tom Welna has an exceptional ability for making visionary things happen. For more than 20 years many of us tried to build a median on Grand Avenue. Welna got it done in 2 years. His knack for placemaking has been proven over and over again.”
-George Latimer, Professor Emeritus, Urban Studies, Macalester College, former Assistant Secretary HUD & former Saint Paul Mayor

Many colleges and universities have staff who work closely with neighborhood groups, city agencies, and other institutions.  Their work agendas are usually defined reactively to the issues of the day (or semester) and are often responsive to complaints from neighborhood residents and community leaders. What an institution does is seen by its neighbors as a statement of its priorities, how it does things is seen as a statement of the institution’s commitment to its community.

We offer campus-based institutions strategies to move the work agenda of the community and government relations staff from reactive to proactive.  Mission-driven relationship building is at the core of our work at Campus Strategies Group.  We will help you design a relationship plan to assist getting the necessary community support for a given project or help you design long-term relationship plans to build an endowment of trust with your community partners & neighbors.

Campus Strategies Group has more than thirty years experience in strategic engagement with city councils, community councils, neighborhood groups, business associations, homeowners associations and environmental organizations.  We have experience with commercial developments both on and off-campus, campus expansions, perimeter beautification & safety improvements, and strategic real estate acquisition.