Reston, Virginia, June 21, 2012 – MAPPS (www.mapps.org), the only national association of private geospatial firms, has announced the formation of its fourth state chapter with the establishment of MD-MAPPS in Maryland.
The initial Board of Directors will be President Richard Crouse (Richard Crouse & Associates, Frederick, MD); Vice President Justin Lehman (Axis Geospatial, Easton, MD); Secretary Tim Stagg (AeroMetric, Inc., Easton, MD); Treasurer Kurt Allen (Photo Science, Inc., Bowie, MD) and Director Al Wainger (Michael Baker Jr., Inc., Ellicott City, MD).
The goals of MD-MAPPS will be to–
• Build relationships with local and state government
• Provide a voice for the private sector and the geospatial community at large in governmental processes
• Pursue relationships with professional geospatial organizations in Maryland
• Provide a forum for private geospatial firms in the state
• Promote education and workforce development programs with post secondary education institutions
In order to be a member of MD-MAPPS, a firm must be a member of the MAPPS national association. Private sector geospatial firms with offices or employees in or with a business interest in Maryland are encouraged to join the state chapter. Firms can enroll on the MAPPS website, www.mapps.org.
Maryland (MD-MAPPS) is the fourth state chapter of the association following Pennsylvania (PA-MAPPS) formed in 2007, Colorado (CO-MAPPS) formed in 2011 and Georgia (GA-MAPPS) formed earlier in 2012.
About MAPPS
Formed in 1982, MAPPS is the only national association exclusively comprised of private firms in the remote sensing, spatial data and geographic information systems field in the United States. The MAPPS membership spans the entire spectrum of the geospatial community, including Member Firms engaged in satellite and airborne remote sensing, surveying, photogrammetry, aerial photography, LIDAR, hydrography, bathymetry, charting, aerial and satellite image processing, GPS, and GIS data collection and conversion services. MAPPS also includes Associate Member Firms, which are companies that provide hardware, software, products and services to the geospatial profession in the United States and other firms from around the world. Independent Consultant Members are sole proprietors engaged in consulting in or to the geospatial profession, or provides a consulting service of interest to the geospatial profession. MAPPS provides its 160+ member firms opportunities for networking and developing business-to-business relationships, information sharing, education, public policy advocacy, market growth, and professional development and image enhancement. For more information on MAPPS, please visit www.MAPPS.org.