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About Us
Our Experience
Cabot Dow Associates is an independently owned human resources consulting firm, specializing in public sector and private sector human resource management issues.
Our experience runs the spectrum of recruitment, classification/compensation, best practice approaches to public and private sector management: and, specifically, talent acquisition, recruitment, cost of compensation, benefits, negotiations, mediation, interest arbitration of police and fire contract disputes and administration of collective bargaining agreements. CDA has a broad understanding of dispute resolution and expertise in how private and public agencies operate, the structure of governmental and private organizations, the role of elected officials, private boards and public commissions in setting labor policy and the need to be responsive to customers in providing services.
CDA has over eighty years of combined experience in public and private sector management and, specifically, in structuring compensation, negotiations and administration of collective bargaining agreements. Each negotiator and consultant has a broad understanding of dispute resolution and expertise in how private and public agencies operate. This includes compensation systems, the structure of organizations, the role of elected officials, private boards and public commissions in setting labor policy.
Recent Projects Include
- Collective bargaining (negotiations, mediation, interest arbitration)
- Employee compensation (selection of comparators, total compensation studies)
- Employee selection (executive recruitment, retention, promotions, background checks)
- Management proposals on selected subjects (drafting contract language)
- Labor relations and Personnel policies: (creation and administration)
Meet Our Team
Cabot Dow
Principal Associate
Cabot Dow is President of Cabot Dow Associates, Inc. He offers extensive experience representing public and private sector clients in the full spectrum of compensation, workload assessment and collective bargaining matters, including negotiations, mediation and arbitration proceedings.
Mr. Dow graduated from Bethel University, St. Paul, Minnesota with Bachelor’s Degrees in Industrial Psychology and English, with honors. Subsequently, he received the Master of Public Administration from the Evans Graduate School of Public Affairs, University of Washington, with high honors. He has been Director of the Washington Local Government Personnel Institute, founding member of the Washington State Council of Public Personnel Administrators (WCPPA), is an active member of the National Public Employer Labor Relations Association (NPELRA) and the Washington City/County Management Association (WCCMA). He specializes in representing public sector clients operating under Chapter 41.56 RCW, the Washington State Collective Bargaining Statute, and private sector clients operating under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). He has authored professional articles on collective bargaining, interest arbitration, costing labor contracts and has often been a presenter at labor relations conferences and seminars. He contributes to the HR Advisor on human resources and labor relations topics at mrsc.org.
cities • counties • fire districts • telecommunications • public transit • gas • public works • water • sewer • police • government/education • libraries • distribution/wholesale/retail • manufacturing • services • ems/als • health care • electrical • admin/pension • engineering • finance • port districts • airport • building and trades • power • not-for profit • for profit
Bellevue • Bothell • Clyde Hill • Community Transit (PTBA) • Des Moines • Everett • Island Transit • Lake Forest Park • Kirkland
Lewis County • Mason County • Medina • Mill Creek • Milwaukee • Monroe • Mountlake Terrace • Mukilteo • Olympia
Phoenix • Port Angeles • Portland Area • Richland • San Francisco • Seattle • Snohomish County • Snoqualmie • Spokane Transit (PTBA) • Tacoma • Tukwila • Tumwater • University Place
South Snohomish RFA • South King Fire & Rescue
Alexandra Sheeks
Principal Associate
Alex is a Principal Associate for CDA and specializes in the management of compensation projects. She offers extensive experience in performing compensation studies and job classification studies for municipal and special purpose local government agencies. This includes both represented and non-represented employees, total compensation analysis, workload and job position analysis.
She also represents management and independent employee organizations in the negotiations of labor agreements.
Alex graduated from Sonoma State University in Economics/Political Science, cum laude. She received her Master of Public Policy and Administration Degree from California State University, Sacramento, with honors.
Prior to joining the Cabot Dow Associates team, Alex was Assistant to the City Manager in the City of Woodinville, Washington. In that capacity, Alex provided support to the City Manager and management staff through management of the City’s human resources function, labor relations, risk management, community relations, and emergency management functions, policy analysis and budgeting. This included oversight of a $21 million biennial capital improvement budget for the City.
AFSCME • ATU • IBEW • IAFF • IAM • Police Guilds • SEIU • Teamsters
Since joining Cabot Dow Associates, Alex has managed compensation projects for a number of agencies located in the State of Washington. For example:
Alderwood Water & Sewer District – represented and non-represented employees • City of Aberdeen, WA – non-represented employees • City of Bonney Lake, WA – represented and non-represented employees • City of Burlington, WA – Compensation studies in support of police officer negotiations • City of Des Moines, WA – represented and non-represented employees • City of Edgewood, WA – non-represented employees • City of Kenmore, WA – non-represented employees • Leavenworth, WA – represented and non-represented employees • City of Lynnwood – represented and non-represented employees • City of Maple Valley – non-represented employees • City of Oak Harbor – non-represented employees • City of Orting – non-represented employees • City of Puyallup – represented and non-represented employees • City of Richland – represented employees • City of Sammamish – non-represented employees • City of Sea Tac, WA – represented and non-represented employees; support for negotiations with AFSCME • City of Shelton, WA – non-represented employees • City of Toppenish, WA – represented and non-represented employees • Firgrove Mutual Water District – non-represented employees • Greater Maple Valley Community Center • Island Transit, Coupeville, WA – non-represented employees • Jefferson County – represented and non-represented employees • Jefferson Transit – non-represented employees • Lewis County – Represented employees • KCFD #7 – Suncadia – represented employees • Kitsap Library System – represented and non-represented employees • LINK Transit, Wenatchee, WA – represented and non-represented employees; provided support for upcoming negotiations for coach operators • MACECOM 9-1-1 – Telecommunicators • Mason Transit – represented and non-represented employees • Municipal Research & Services Center (MRSC) • Chelan PUD – represented employees • Skagit PUD – represented and non-represented employees • Skagit Transit, Burlington, WA – non-represented employees • Woodinville Water District – non-represented employees
Why Choose CDA?
When you work with Cabot Dow Associates, you can trust that you're getting expert guidance from a team that truly understands the public sector landscape. We're dedicated to coaching and helping our clients succeed; we are proud to have built a reputation for delivering high-quality, cost-effective solutions that make a real difference.
Recent Clients and Projects
Public Sector HR/Labor Projects
- Fire Districts and RFAs
- Public Transit PTBAs
- Port Districts – Police Officers and Firefighters
- Public Libraries – Librarians and Facilities
- 9-1-1 Communication Centers – Telecommunicators
Private Sector HR/Labor Projects
- Oil and Gas – Maintenance and Facilities
- Public Radio – Broadcasters and Copywriters
- Third Party Administration (TPAs) – Pension and Claims
- Entertainment – Musicians and Facilities
Contact Cabot Dow Associates
Steward public resources well with the help of our data-driven compensation studies and HR consulting services.
We want to help you make data-driven compensation and Human Resources decisions that will help you balance the needs of your municipal government or publicly funded entity.
Our objective compensation studies, labor negotiation, and HR consulting make it possible!
The first step is to reach out to us for a free intro session.
We will unearth opportunities for how we can work together, discuss what a custom compensation strategy could look like for your organization, and share about how we achieved success for organizations similar to yours..