Wise County, Va. was awarded the Special Achievement in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) at the Environmental Systems Research Institute’s (ESRI) 25th Annual International Users Conference on July 27 in San Diego, Calif. The Wise County site was selected out of more than 100,000 user sites worldwide.

Anderson & Associates began working with Wise County in 1999 to develop what would become a model example of a WebGIS site. In April 2001, the site was available online. A&A developed a significant portion of the more than 50 layers of data, including information on traffic data, delinquent taxes, and tax parcels. Additionally, custom tools and searches utilizing quick search and mobile search were created for the county. A&A Project Manager Jon Greene said, "When we go out to meet clients and we demo our WebGIS services, we always use the Wise County site. It’s a shining example of what GIS can be."

Wise County was represented at the conference by Jennifer Maggard, Megan Seals, and Brandon Corder. Jennifer has been working on the site for two years and contributing data visualization layers, such as 911 address corrections. Megan and Brandon worked together to map fire hydrant locations and sought funding for local fire fighters to gain access to a prototype mobile GIS application. The trio accepted the award from ESRI President Jack Dangermond on behalf of the county.

"Jack gave a speech and really built this group up when he presented the award, saying they are the best of the best," Jon said. "To achieve this level of success, you often have to be the first one in every morning, and last one out at night. It’s true for this group and we all enjoyed a celebratory mood."