Who We Are
Rural Community Consultants is dedicated to providing strategic, financial, and land-use planning support to local governments – and we love our work!
Mike Hansen, Principal
Qualifications:
- American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP)
- Master’s of Political Economy, GWC
- Master’s of Public Administration, University of Utah
- B.S. Urban Planning, University of Utah
Mike Hansen has worked in strategy, land use, and organizational development for 20+ years. His career has been marked by successful leadership amidst progressively difficult challenges. Working in all levels of government, he has worn the hats of a strategic planner, demographer, administrator, and change leader. He has led small entrepreneurial teams, statewide initiatives, and even served in the Governor’s Cabinet.
Among his many achievements, Mike’s optimization efforts led to Utah being recognized as the “Best Managed State.” In the private sector, Mike has orchestrated projects with citizen groups, special service districts, city staff, and engineers. Focusing on short-term implementation strategies and the long-term return on investment, Mike has drafted roadmaps for cities, counties, and the state with results seen in land use, industry investment, economic development, and state code compliance.
Jacob Hansen
Qualifications:
- Juris Doctorate, BYU Law School
- B.S. Economics, BYU
Jacob graduated with honors from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at BYU. During law school, Jacob worked for Judge Carolyn B. McHugh on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, for Chief Justice Durant on the Utah Supreme Court, and at Sidley Austin, one of the world’s top law firms. He was also an editor of the BYU Law Review and winner of the school’s appellate brief writing competition.
In the civic planning space, Jacob specializes in legislative ordinance drafting. He also enjoys researching, writing, and teaching about land use and economic development issues.
Isaac Hansen
Qualifications:
- B.S. Environmental Science and Ecological Restoration, Humboldt State University
Isaac has nearly 10 years of experience in environmental resource planning and conservation. He has worked with both local governments and private parties to draft ordinances, conduct feasibility studies, optimize property taxes, and make actionable plans.
Isaac has also coordinated land annexations and acquisitions, including a +20,000-acre carbon offset project in the Olympic Rainforest. His special skills include GIS mapping and engaging diverse stakeholders. Isaac loves the outdoors and is always ready to provide a literal boots-on-the-ground perspective.
Rural Community Consultants
Rural Community Consultants’ mission is to provide implementable solutions to the difficult issues that are unique to local governments in the West. Clients include small to mid-sized municipalities as well as urban and rural counties. The consultancy specializes in strategy, capital investment, resiliency, infrastructure, engineering, public interaction, and land use issues. The organization has key partnerships with attorneys, civil engineers, economists, GIS specialists, architects, and environmental scientists. Core values guiding product delivery are: concise, illustrative, and actionable.
Projects
A typical project includes research, data analysis, data synthesis, findings development, and recommendations or policy. Example projects include strategic planning for Parowan City and Roosevelt City, recreation planning for the resort town of Brian Head, land use and development planning for Davis and Utah counties, and state-level economic consulting. The results have been the adoption and implementation of evidence-based policy and prioritized government investments.
Take a look at this example project (pdf in Brian Head), or this one (google doc in Brian Head).