Apply Now for GIS Software, Data, and Training to Maximize Return on Commercial Investments

Redlands, California—September 24, 2009—During the past year, the U.S. economy has undergone tremendous change that has had a major impact on commercial construction and real estate markets. To help real estate professionals during this recession, ESRI and CCIM Institute have created a $1 million U.S. grant program designed to give CCIM Institute members access to timely U.S. demographic information and analysis through geographic information system (GIS) technology.

The grant program was developed to help U.S.-based investors, brokers, and other real estate professionals think creatively with data and software they may not have access to otherwise. Learning about and using GIS through the grant program will help real estate professionals maximize the potential of their commercial investments by being able to manage and analyze data based on location.

Winners of the grants will receive ESRI's ArcGIS software, data, and training. Information about winning applications will be shared with other commercial real estate and investment professionals to help educate them on the benefits of GIS. "We hope to show real use case examples of how GIS technology can be applied to overcome many of the challenges currently found in real estate," says Jack Dangermond, president, ESRI.

As the leading provider of GIS software solutions, ESRI has been at the forefront of real estate solutions for a number of years. ESRI's partnership and grant program with CCIM Institute, the largest commercial investment brokerage network in the world, allows the industry to address business through better education, technology, and community building.

The grant program is open to any CCIM Institute designee or candidate member. The program began July 1, 2009, and runs to July 1, 2010. The second round of applications opens October 1, 2010. A total of 200 grants will be awarded in increments of 50 each quarter. Applicants need only apply once to be eligible.

A grant review committee will be composed of CCIM Institute board members and ESRI managers. Grants will be awarded to forward-thinking projects that improve workflow and enhance the decision-making process across various real estate market segments.

Program details and an application can be found at www.esri.com/ccimgrants. For more information on ESRI and how GIS serves the commercial real estate industry, visit www.esri.com/realestate.

About ESRI

Since 1969, ESRI has been giving customers around the world the power to think and plan geographically. The market leader in GIS, ESRI software is used in more than 300,000 organizations worldwide including each of the 200 largest cities in the United States, most national governments, more than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies, and more than 7,000 colleges and universities. ESRI applications, running on more than one million desktops and thousands of Web and enterprise servers, provide the backbone for the world's mapping and spatial analysis. ESRI is the only vendor that provides complete technical solutions for desktop, mobile, server, and Internet platforms. Visit us at http://www.esri.com.

Contact:

Karen Richardson
ESRI
Tel.: 909-793-2853, extension 1-3491
E-mail: Email Contact