November 9, 2012 - Huntsville, Alabama - An Alabama state chapter of MAPPS, the association of private sector geospatial firms, was announced today at the GEO Huntsville conference in Huntsville, AL.

"Following the momentum of this conference, and recognizing the significant cluster of geospatial firms and organizations in Huntsville and the State of Alabama, the establishment of AL-MAPPS is natural to leverage that synergy for further business growth," said Jeff Lower, MAPPS President-Elect, Magnolia River Services, Inc. during a presentation at the conference.

A number of principals of MAPPS member firms based in or with employees or offices in Alabama gathered on September 26 at the offices of Magnolia River Services, Inc. in Huntsville, AL for an "interest meeting" to discuss the establishment of a MAPPS chapter in Alabama.

A task force developed bylaws, established an initial Board of Directors, and organized the launch of the chapter at GEO-Huntsville.

The initial Board of Directors will be Dale Jobes, Magnolia River Services, Inc. (Huntsville, AL), Antonio Montoya, AeroMetric (Madison, AL), Scott Beard, Wiser Company (Birmingham, AL), George Jones, ISC (Huntsville, AL), and Aaron Morris, GISP Michael Baker Jr., Inc. (Ridgeland, MS).

"The growth of the MAPPS chapter program is a recognition by the membership of the unique synergy of firms at the national level that can be replicated in the states," said MAPPS President Dick McDonald, PLS, CP (T3 Global Strategies, Bridgeville, PA). "Working together through a state chapter these member firms will be able to grow their business, raise awareness of the important role of geospatial technologies play in our society and affect public policy at the state and local level."

Chapter dues will be just $250 per firm. In order to be a member of AL-MAPPS, a firm must be a member of the MAPPS national association. For more information, visit www.mapps.org.

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.