Matthew Junker joins the Cloudpoint Team

As of June 29th, Matthew Junker is the latest addition to start working with the greatest GIS consultant This side of the Mississip!
(possibly the other side too)

Psst! the 'J' is pronounced like a 'Y' but he's used to that by now. Matt is originally from Varna, Illinois but currently lives in Chillicothe with his wife and two young sons. In some bizarre-unplanned-coincidence he also has a BS from Illinois State (that makes 3 Dr. Sublett survivors). However less-so coincidental, his local government experiences are exactly in line with Cloudpoint's needs and wheelhouse. Matt brings years of parcel mapping to our firm and with his help, we expect to expand our offerings of parcel-fabric conversion.

Don't be fooled by his quiet demeanor, He's handy with a hammer and knows enough stats on Chicago sports to make your head spin. He already has a nickname because of his twitter handle: midRangeJ We look forward to introducing our clients to him and I'm sure they will find him just as professional and knowledgeable as the rest of our outstanding team. 

Welcome Matt! 

City of Bloomington looks to optimize routes

A typical automated collection truck outfitted with optimized routing is an efficiency machine

The City of Bloomington is practicing good stewardship for the tax payers and looking to improve efficiencies for its solid waste collection program.  To do so, they have hired Cloudpoint Geographics to look at existing garbage pickup locations and  compare them with the GIS roadway network to find the most optimized routes of travel.  These optimized routes will help identify the most efficient routing pattern for trucks based on travel times and traffic patterns.  Some of the benefits the City hopes to recognize as a result include improved customer service; cost savings on fuel, staff, and equipment; equitable workload for route drivers; and the ability to utilize this data for future GPS and real-time monitoring applications.  Questions regarding route optimization can be directed to Jon Hodel at (877) 377-8124.

World's Greatest Little City (just got better)

We are excited for the opportunity to work with the City of Mendota, IL (The World's Greatest Little City as noted on their hompage) on implementing a city-wide utility GIS.  The City has contracted Cloudpoint to collect all utility assets with high-accuracy GPS and create maps of each distribution system.  The project includes water distribution, storm water network, and sanitary system.  This information will serve as the foundation of the City's future CMOM (Capacity, Management Operation and Maintenance) plan as required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  In its simplest form, the CMOM is used for monitoring the operation of sanitary sewers to prevent overloading of waste treatment plants and the overflow prevention of sewage into lakes and streams.

Crews will be using a Trimble Geo XH 6000 for data collection and syncing the data with esri's ArcGIS Desktop software.  Upon completion the city will have a fully functional GIS system for their entire utility network.  The majority of the project is expected to be completed by the end of 2015.

Henderson 911 Addressing.

Cloudpoint staff has been busy on the roads of Henderson county, Illinois. We have been contracted for the purpose of implementing a rural addressing program to improve emergency response to rural areas and enhance postal & parcel deliveries. A rural addressing program will also help serve residents by improving the use of vehicle navigation systems. Namely finding addresses digitally in Henderson Co. has been tough, this will make it easier. We are closely working with the US Post Offices in Henderson County to make the addressing assignments make logical sense.

There are several phases to this process. data collection, address assignment & delivering of the data in a viable format to the county. Digital records are great for those who have digital mapping capabilities. Cloudpoint will provide the Henderson County Sheriff’s department with an updated database (csv, MS Excel, shapefile, or other GIS format) with old and new addresses. As well, we will create and provide a dry erase wall map containing road names & incorporated areas upon completion of the project. 

Above are several images from the initial part of the data collection phase (all photos were taken while the vehicle was stopped). This project is a great example of the diversity of talent that Cloudpoint Geographics has. From 911 addressing to Parcel management to Utility inventories we have the skills and understanding to get the job done.  

Meet Joe!

Though often bearded, I've never seen a mustache this big!

Joe Christian joined the Cloudpoint team at the beginning of April. The first day, Joe showed up in business dress but with a backpack of clothes for field work. He said, "I didn't know what to expect, so I wanted to be ready". Great job Joe! passed on-the-job test #1. Joe is a former employee of LT Environmental in Colorado and the City of Bloomington (IL) Engineering Department. Many people might also recognize him from his dugout dancing days working for the Peoria Chiefs organization or being lead guitarist/singer in local band "The Kritters". Joe graduated in 2014 with a degree from ISU in Geography, as well 2008 from Western Illinois. We're excited to have Joe's energy and talents to work for us. He will be quite useful in the field tagging traffic signs as well in the office kicking out the map projects, however we don't have any dugouts to dance on. 

esri partner conference

As I woke up this morning to 5 degree weather in central Illinois, I could help but think of poor Micah who is on his way to the esri partner conference in sunny Southern Cal where tomorrow's high will be a measly 82 degrees.  No, those of us holding down the fort here in the frozen tundra are not bitter in the least.  

Disclaimer: This is only a representation of a truly accurate golf stance and by no means is intended to portray Micah's swing....

This is the second year in a row that Cloudpoint has had opportunity to attend this conference and we are thankful for a strong partnership with esri as a leading provider of GIS services in our area looking forward to a continued relationship for years to come.  In the meantime, hopefully Mr. Williamson will return with more than a sun tan and improved golf game.  #EsriEPC

Catchin up with old friends at the 101st T.H.E.

We were able to sponsor and exhibit at the T.H.E. conference this week at the historic Illini Union building on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  This conference congregates transportation professionals from all areas including city & county engineers, highway officials, consultants, technicians, faculty and students who gather to discuss issues critical to the safe and economical movement of people and goods across Illinois and beyond.   It was well attended with almost 1,000 people registered.  Jon and Brett Hodel attended to help promote our GIS/Asset Management services and sign inventory management system called SignOps.  @THEatIllinois

CLOUDPOINT GEOGRAPHICS TAKES TO THE SKIES

Cloudpoint Geographics forms strategic partnership with Kovar & Associates, LLC to offer aerial mapping services using drones

Roanoke, IL, February 15, 2015– Cloudpoint Geographics is pleased to announce a partnership with Kovar & Associates LLC to offer professional aerial mapping services with UAV's (drones).  Mr. Kovar is a licensed fixed wing and rotorcraft pilot and specialized cyber-security consultant. He has been involved in disaster response and search and rescue for over 15 years and has a passionate interest in mapping and imagery due to this experience.

“This strategic partnership positions us for an early entrance into a brand new market that will dramatically expand our geospatial offerings throughout the state of Illinois and the Midwest region.”  says Cloudpoint president, Jonathan Hodel

Ground Station iPad interface

The Cloudpoint / Kovar team has submitted a request for an exemption with the FAA to allow for commercial drone operation for aerial mapping.  The approval process is anticipated to take several months however these firms are committed to establishing a safe and effective program for using this technology.  The FAA is currently in the process of developing regulations for commercial use of drones in many different applications.

Cloudpoint is a dynamic geospatial solutions consulting firm providing mapping and GIS services for a variety of clients.​

Parcel Fabric for Las Cruces New Mexico

Las Cruces, New Mexico: Cloudpoint is excited to begin a parcel fabric migration for the city of Las Cruces. The Parcel Fabric is a part of the Esri Local Government Information Model and quickly becoming the industry standard for parcel maintenance. Using the parcel editing tools that come with Esri ArcGIS desktop (No costly 3rd party extensions) Cloudpoint will remotely perform the migration quickly and efficiently. Las Cruces GIS staff will have a product that includes parcel history, is easier to maintain and more spatially accurate.  Cloudpoint is able to compete for jobs like these on a national level because of our mobile connectivity and nimble ability to understand the problem then propose a great solution.