I think his answer was more or less in the "contact local agencies part".
To add some color, it's likely there are already design/development shops in your city if you live somewhere with any kind of technology presence. If you don't know of any, go to local meetups in the web space and ask around about which ones are local to you.
As was previously mentioned, many development shops subcontract out work to local developers. Talking to them at meetups or sending an email letting them know you're interested in working with them is a great way to kick off a conversation that could lead to you working with them.