I've been a bit more of a lurker than a participant here for a few years, but the agency I work at does do projects of this nature, specializing in local business:
http://www.formicmedia.com/ .
If your friend is also considering keeping the project in-house, he or she may be interested in checking out more information at the URLs below to get more of an idea of the types of processes involved.
SEO:
http://www.seomoz.org/beginners-guide-to-seo
PPC:
http://www.ppchero.com/ppc-heros-beginners-guide-to-ppc/
https://www.facebook.com/business/connect
http://support.google.com/adwords/answer/2375470?hl=en&r...
Good luck in your search!