June 18, 2009 -- Harrisburg, PA- Members of the Pennsylvania chapter of MAPPS (PA-MAPPS) elected a new slate of officers and directors and adopted a strategic plan at its annual membership meeting on Thursday, June, 11.

The board of directors of PA-MAPPS consists of the following members and positions:

President: Michael Shillenn, CP, Photo Science (West Chester, PA)

President-Elect: Con Sweeney, Michael Baker Jr., Inc. (Harrisburg, PA)

Secretary: Mark Safran, CP, GISP, BAE Systems (Mount Laurel, NJ & Pittsburgh, PA)

Treasurer: Stephen Ellis, GISP, GeoDecisions division of Gannett Fleming, Inc. (Camp Hill, PA)

Director: Ashis Pal, GISP, geographIT (Lancaster, PA)

"I am grateful for the support and confidence of the members and am humbled by the honor of serving this organization," said Mike Shillenn, PA-MAPPS President. In just two short years, PA-MAPPS has become a well-known and respected organization within the Commonwealth and I look forward to continuing to promote the benefits of geospatial data to the citizens of Pennsylvania and improving the opportunities for the private geospatial community with the other stakeholder groups in Pennsylvania.

At its annual membership business meeting, PA-MAPPS formally adopted a five-year strategic plan, which outlines the goals for the chapter. Included in the plan is to continue to advocate for a favorable business climate for the private geospatial community, work for effective education programs for workforce development and create a geospatial coordination council to serve the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

About PA-MAPPS
PA-MAPPS, the first state chapter of MAPPS, is open to private firms in the geospatial community including those in 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 service firms with offices and employees based in Pennsylvania and Associate Members: companies that do business in but not having a physical office or businesses in the Commonwealth, or those that provide hardware, software, products and services to the geospatial profession in the Keystone State. Firms in PA MAPPS are also members of MAPPS.

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. Current MAPPS memberships span 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. MAPPS provides its 150+ 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