Harrisburg, PA- Member firms based in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania met Friday, June, 29, adopting by-laws and electing a board of directors for the first state chapter of MAPPS, the national association of private mapping and geospatial firms. The Pennsylvania chapter of MAPPS (PA-MAPPS) will focus on key issues in the state legislature and public policy, as well as strengthen the market, communication and education of geospatial firms in the Keystone State.
The board of directors of PA-MAPPS consists of the following members and positions:
• President: Ashis Pal, geographIT (Lancaster, PA)
• Vice President: Michael Shillenn, Photo Science, Inc. (West Chester, PA)
• Secretary: Frank "Fritz" Weber, L. Robert Kimball & Associates, Inc. (Ebensburg, PA)
• Treasurer: Bob Hanson, Michael Baker Jr., Inc. (Harrisburg, PA)
• Director: James Pahel, Land & Mapping Services (Clearfield, PA)
"A number of firms have been working hard over the past year to create a state wide voice for the private geospatial community in Pennsylvania and the election of this first board of directors will grow our membership and our voice in the state legislature," said Ashis Pal, PA-MAPPS President.
PA-MAPPS is open to companies in the geospatial community including photogrammetry, satellite and airborne remote sensing, hydrography, aerial and satellite image processing, surveying, GPS, and GIS data collection and conversion services in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. PA-MAPPS has two membership categories; Member Firms: geospatial services companies with offices and employees based in Pennsylvania and Associate Members: companies that do business in the Commonwealth not having a physical office or businesses that provide hardware, software, products and services to the geospatial profession in the Keystone State.
The new board has already started efforts for programs and meetings of PA-MAPPS member firms to begin in mid-September to discuss public policy issues and meet with members of the Pennsylvania legislature, state agencies and other policy makers and stakeholders regarding geospatial issues.
MAPPS is the only national association exclusively comprised of private firms in the spatial data and geographic information system field in the United States. Formed in 1982 as the Management Association of Private Photogrammetric Surveyors to represent the interests of private photogrammetric and aerial surveying firms, MAPPS has since expanded in size and scope to become the voice of private U.S geospatial firms, and numerous foreign companies. PA-MAPPS is the first state chapter in the MAPPS organization. All private sector geospatial firms based in or with offices in Pennsylvania, or firms doing business in or with an interest in Pennsylvania, are encouraged to join MAPPS and PA-MAPPS. For information and membership application, click here. Firms will jointly be members of MAPPS and PA-MAPPS.
MAPPS is currently celebrating its 25th anniversary. For more information on MAPPS, please click here.