Brim Report for November 2001

Celebrating Our Ten Year History 
By James Brimeyer

Ten years ago, in October 1991, I began a series of meetings with colleagues and friends that served as the basis for the formation of The Brimeyer Group. My plan was to devote our consulting services primarily to public sector executive search primarily to public sector executive search and to provide team building and strategic planning services to select clients. All this we have achieved!

Over the years, we have broadened our scope to include private sector clients and expanded our consulting services to include governance awareness. Experience and client suggestions have prompted us to make modifications to our executive search process.

Although we have continually improved our services, some things have stayed the same. Since 1991 we have been located in downtown Hopkins, and the core members of our group have remained the same. Pam Carlson (now a partner) and Bob Schaefer have developed their talents, increased their responsibilities and are integral parts of our team. In 1995, Lois Nelson joined us as our secretary.

Occasionally our company has been enhanced by the work of outside consultants, buy by design we have remained a small company. This allows us to be more focused. Personal and immediate attention to both clients and candidates is a hallmark of which we are so proud. We are also pleased to be one of the first executive search firms to have developed a web site.

Our philosophy also remains simple – to achieve successful results for our clients and our candidates. We believe our executive search process is the key. Our clients must agree - we have developed many long-term relationships as documented by our latest client survey. Today, almost 90% of our assignments come through referrals or former clients.

Statistics for the Decade

During the past ten years, The Brimeyer Group has successfully completed 180 executive search assignments and over 60 consulting projects.

Our completed search assignments are summarized by area as follows: 

· City Mangers / Administrators – 76
· Economic / EDA / Community Development Directors – 18
· Police / Fire Chief – 13
· Utilities / Public Works – 12
· Finance / budget – 8
· County Administrator / coordinator – 8
· Engineer (mostly Civil) public – 7 private – 5
· Planners – 6 
· Multi-jurisdictional Directors – 6
· Private Sector Marketing – 4
· Non-profit Associations – 4
· Assessor / Appraiser – 4 
· Library / Directors – 2
· Park Director – 1
· School superintendent – 1
· Others – 5

Of the 60 consulting assignments, a large number involved team building with boards / councils and staff. An almost equal number focused on strategic planning and goal setting. Recently, we have been involved in assisting boards / councils and staff in exploring governance issues.

It has been an interesting experience with many god tears, plus the occasional doubt about the survival of the company. But for the most part, it has been rewarding and great fun! We have met a lot of interesting and talented people – and we have had the opportunity to visit and learn about many communities. We just might go for another ten!