RESTON, VA, March 31, 2008 - MAPPS ( www.mapps.org) has announced that George Southard, Vice President Americas Digital Imaging of Leica Geosystems, Englewood, CO has been elected chairman of the newly formed MAPPS Associate Members Committee.

The committee provides a forum for the principals of Associate Member firms in MAPPS to assure that these firms are fully integrated in the activities of MAPPS; is a vehicle for the MAPPS Board to solicit these members' input on issues; provides input to the Program Committee on sessions, speakers and topics to be addressed at MAPPS conferences affecting Associate Members interests; and assist the Board and Membership Committee in recruiting new Associate Members to MAPPS.

"George Southard has been a great ambassador to Associate Members in MAPPS for many years and I am pleased the Associate Members have elected him as the first Chairman of this committee," said President Marvin E. Miller, CP, PLS, PPS (AERO-METRIC, Inc., Maple Grove, MN). Members of the committee elected Southard during the MAPPS Winter Meeting in Rancho Mirage, California.

Brant Howard (CompassData, Centennial, CO) will serve as the MAPPS Board liaison to the committee. Southard has worked with Leica Geosystems since 1993. His career in the photogrammetry profession began in 1977 working as an aerial photographer and aerial photo lab manager for a small mapping firm in the Salt Lake City area. During his years in the geospatial profession, Southard has been an active member of MAPPS. Southard has made numerous presentations to MAPPS members at the association's conferences. He has also presented before the National Academy of Sciences on behalf of MAPPS and currently represents MAPPS on a joint committee with ACSM and ASPRS to select students as recipients of the recently established Frank Moffitt Scholarship. He has also been an active member of ASPRS and served two years on the ASPRS Board of Directors as chairman of the Sustaining Members Council.

"The MAPPS bylaws were amended by the membership in 2007 expanding the scope of membership to include a broader range of Associate Members," said John Palatiello, MAPPS Executive Director. "This committee will provide a forum for Associate Member firms to be able to provide more input into the programs offered by MAPPS."

In MAPPS, an Associate Member is any firm engaged in the manufacturing and/or supplying of geospatial equipment, services, supplies, hardware or software, that supports but is not engaged in the geospatial profession, any firm not engaged in but with an interest in the geospatial field, and any firm meeting the MAPPS bylaws definition of "engaged in the geospatial profession" whose home office is located outside of the United States of America.

Current MAPPS Associate Member Firms include Agfa Corporation; Applanix Corporation; Cantor Arkema, P.C.; Cardinal Systems, LLC; Cary and Assocaites; Corbley Communications, Inc.; DAT/EM Systems International; Eastman Kodak Company; GeoCue Corporation; GeoSearch, Inc.; Global Marketing Insights, Inc.; Groupe Alta; Intergraph; Kampsax India Private; Leica Geosystems, Inc.; Lizardtech; Optech Incorprated; Overwatch Sysetms of Virginia, Inc.; Riegl USA, Inc.; TopoSys North America, Inc.; WeoGeo, Inc.; ZyMac, Inc.

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 Active Member Firms engaged in satellite and airborne remote sensing, surveying, photogrammetry, aerial photography, hydrography, bathymetry, charting, aerial and satellite image processing, GPS, and GIS data collection and conversion services. MAPPS provides its members 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.

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Contact
Nick Palatiello
MAPPS Marketing Communications Manager
703-787-6996