Corporate News
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| 07/10/09 | |
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The City of Buford, Georgia selects Keck & Wood led team to implement integrated web based GIS and Work Order Management system Cities and Counties are finding themselves facing difficult times. They must comply with an ever increasing number of state and federal regulations while at the same time their budgets are shrinking. An increasing number of cities and counties, of every size, are turning to technology such as: GIS, mobile computing, field automation, and use of work order tracking software. This trend is based on the need to ‘do more with less’ - using technology to improve efficiency - and on the need to stay in regulatory compliance. The City of Buford is no exception. To meet these growing demands, they have turned to Keck & Wood, Inc. and our team to develop and implement an automated web based work order tracking and field automation system which will be linked to their GIS database. Keck & Wood quickly identified the HiperWeb suite of web based software developed by PSD Software as a strong solution for the goals Buford wished to accomplish. HiperWeb is tailored to municipal and utility operations, with several modules including water, sewer, stormwater, electric, and gas. It has been widely used by Georgia’s MEAG and MGAG members to log inspections, track inventory, and generate reports, but to date it has not been linked into a GIS.
Buford’s City Commission approved this project during their July meeting. Keck & Wood will coordinate the roll out of this solution between the City, PSD Software and BinaryBus. With the implementation of HiperGIS, the City will have wireless, real-time data in the field; the ability to generate mapping updates in-house; a public citizen-access webportal; preventative and corrective maintenance scheduling; data integration between third-party customer service and billing software; pre-programmed report options for compliance with regulations such as GASB-34 and CMOM…..the list continues. Keck & Wood will also continue to maintain the City’s GIS databases and to provide ongoing technical support for the City.
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| 02/26/09 |
docSTAR and Keck & Wood Join Forces to Drive Efficiency & Profitability for Local Municipalities Solution designed to deliver leading technology at lower cost to taxpayers. Schenectady, NY – February 26, 2009 – Keck & Wood, a well respected municipal engineering and GIS firm located in the southeastern United States, is partnering with docSTAR, a leader in document management solutions. This alliance is designed to seamlessly combine the power of Geographic Information System (GIS) software with the speed and accessibility of document management. The result is a solution for local government that will improve efficiency, save money and provide real‐time access to public records.“Digital document management in local government is long overdue,” says Eddie Williams, President of Keck & Wood. “There are significant inefficiencies that exist in the current processes. Our solution is designed to streamline workflow and provide cutting ‐edge technology at an affordable cost to taxpayers.”docSTAR Partner, Mosaic Corp. is providing support to municipalities in the southeast region. “We have been a Platinum docSTAR Partner for more than ten years,” says Ken Kingery, Mosaic’s Sales Director. "Our presence in the region, in conjunction with our relationship with Keck & Wood, puts us in an excellent position to deliver this combined GIS and document management solution.” The most noticeable feature for the public will be the ability to access public records via the internet in real time. “Users can easily access GIS layers and instantly display maps, view, print and email associated documents – all with the click of a button,” states Jeff Frankel, VP of Business Development at docSTAR. “Our research shows that 80% of documents used by municipalities are tied to a location on the earth,” Frankel continues, “docSTAR provides instant access to these documents and enhances workers’ abilities to serve the public.” Another important area is the increasing demand on municipalities to prove compliance in areas such as GASB ‐34 and the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). Both require proof of maintenance records on municipality infrastructure assets. Making these maintenance reports available through a GIS interface saves significant time and labor costs.This partnership is designed to support the Keck & Wood initiative to provide local government with superior service and technology. Municipalities can learn more about this cost ‐saving offering by visiting www.docstar.com/keckwood or contacting Mosaic at 770‐452‐7373 or Keck & Wood at 678‐417‐4000.About docSTAR docSTAR is a recognized leader of comprehensive and integrated document management solutions. docSTAR allows instant access to documents and immediate cost savings while delivering ease of use, fast implementation, safety, and security. About Keck & Wood Keck & Wood, Inc. is a multidiscipline consulting firm engaged in providing a diverse range of engineering, land surveying, planning and GIS services to municipal clients throughout the southeast since 1954. Keck & Wood is an ESRI Business Partner, Adapx Premier Reseller and HP Authorized Reseller. About Mosaic Mosaic provides viable alternatives to paper based filing. As a Platinum docSTAR partner for over 10 years, Mosaic has become the practice management specialist for the government segment. Numerous implementations in a wide range of environments have lead to collaboration, development and an industry specific road map for the future. |
| 08/04/08 |
Heath Spring gets $500,000 for overhaul of waterlines By Johnathan Ryan - Reporter HEATH SPRINGS – You might call it a big splash in the bucket for the town of Heath Springs – $500,000 in federal grant money to help overhaul its water system. Mayor Ann Taylor said the town recently got word that it was awarded a Community Development Block Grant to finance the second phase of its waterline improvements. The project will finance new lines for nearly half the town's population, or about 450 residents. "I am thrilled out my mind. I know the people endured low-water pressure for a long time," Taylor said. "I am very delighted." Many of the town's lines are 100 years old and were intended to serve only a handful of homes, Taylor said. Now the lines break and are heavily corroded, resulting in poor quality to customers. "That corrosion in those pipes is kind of like cholesterol in your arteries," Taylor said. Taylor hopes engineering plans can be made and then a contractor can be hired to allow construction to begin in the fall. But more realistically, it will be next spring, she said. The town received a water-system study from Williams Engineering, a subsidiary of Keck & Wood, Inc., in 2007 that highlighted areas of concern in the town's water system and prioritized them. The study broke the needs down into three phases to be addressed. In the first phase of the project, the connection point to Lancaster County Water and Sewer District lines will be relocated from Elgin to Pleasant Hill, which is closer to the town. The new main line will be twice as large as the current main lines, increasing to one foot in diameter. The main line will run along U.S. 521 to the town and past the planned Heath Springs Industrial Park. The town was awarded a $872,000 CDBG grant last year to pay for this first phase of the project. The town will pay a 10 percent match. The town has nearly completed preliminary procedures and construction should start soon,Taylor said. Phase 2 will cost about $650,000, with a 25 percent match required by the town. "It's a little bit more of a match required (than phase 1), but we'll still take what we can get," Taylor said. To get the increased pressure to the rest of the town, new lines are needed, which is the focus of phase 2 and 3. Phase 3 will bring new lines to the east side of town. Taylor said the town will seek CDBG money in coming months for this phase. "Hopefully, we can get it," she said. After the completion of phase 3, the town will have a new water system, Taylor said. "I'm delighted for the people," she said. "That's what we're here to do." Contact reporter Johnathan Ryan at jryan@thelancasternews.com or at (803) 416-8416
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| 07/03/08 |
Keck & Wood assists Water District with 2009 Budget
A summary of the budget highlights include gross operating revenues of just under $12.1 million, perating expenses of nearly $7.1 million, other income of about $2.0 million, debt service of about $2.7 million, and provision for depreciation of approximately $2.3 million. Water sales for the year are projected at 3.5 billion gallons to an average of 30,700 customers. Capital expenditures are set at over $18.5 million with improvements to both treatment plants and the distribution system. The proposed budget indicates the District will not only meet cash requirements for fiscal year 2009 and should result in a strong financial position at year end. Adoption of the 2009 budget represents the 17th year Keck & Wood, Inc. has served as Management Consultant to the Lafourche Parish Water District No. 1. Our firm is very proud of its service to the Water District and commends its governing Board and dedicated and competent staff for “job well done”. |
| 06/25/08 |
The City of Hapeville selects Keck & Wood as General Engineering Consultant
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| 04/18/08 |
Keck & Wood, Inc. upgrades our GIS Training services The use of Geographic Information System GIS software such as ESRI’s ArcView, ArcEditor and ArcInfo, has exploded over the last several years fueled by new government requirements and new technology. With this increased use of GIS, the demand for our GIS training services has steadily increased. To meet the demand for both regularly scheduled and on-site GIS training, Keck & Wood is pleased to announce, we have upgraded our training GIS services including our portable training lab, offered training classes and our instructors.
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| 03/15/08 |
Keck & Wood's Rock Hill office has been providing high quality engineering, surveying, mapping and planning services to clients in the Carolinas for over a decade. Keck & Wood hopes our new Charlotte Office will allow us to provide even better service to our North Carolina based clients as well as introduce ourselves to a host of potential new ones. The new Keck & Wood Charlotte office is headed up by Mr. David Tibbals. David is a registered landscape architect with over 15 years of experience. and comes to us from DR Horton, Inc., a major national home-builder. He is a 1992 University of Georgia graduate. David was formerly an Associate VP with PBS&J, and before that, Land Planning Manager for ESP Associates. |
| 12/21/07 |
Keck & Wood is excited to annouce our newest authorized reseller for our GIS training classes, GISFM, Inc. Based in St. Petersburg Florida, GISFM, Inc. provides GIS and Facilities Management services to organizations as well as other Consultants. They specialize in system architecture design, needs analysis, database integration and web interface programming. It their goal to recommend the best solution for their clients based on their vast experience with various vendors, including ESRI, Autodesk, FaciliCAD, FMDesktop as well as Open Source Solutions. GISFM, Inc. is lead by Bill Ten Broeck, GISP. Bill is President of GISFM and has been active in the GIS field since 1992. He has worked as a GIS analyst for an Environmental consulting firm and then in the Tax Assessor department of Fulton County Georgia, one of the nations most populous counties. Since 2000, he has been primarily involved in designing Web based GIS mapping systems. Some of these systems include municipal utilities, telecommunication firms, and one of the worlds largest wireless providers. He has also designed a commercial web-based interface to faciliCAD. Bill is also an experienced instructor having taught classes for Autodesk MapGuide and Map software. |
| 12/10/07 |
Keck & Wood would like to congratulate Ned Daugherty, our plan review specialist, for becoming a Certified Floodplain Manager (CFM). The CFM certification is a nationally recognized program from the Association of State Floodplain Managers and is supported by FEMA. This will be a great benefit for our governmental clients earning them points in FEMA's CRS program and potientially reducing the Flood Insurance Rates for their citizens. |
| 10/16/07 |
Keck & Wood is excited to announce that we will be holding Introduction to ArcGIS I and II classes the week of January 14 thru the 18 at the University of North Alabama Continuing Education Center in Florence Alabama. These classes are being offer in partnership with the Continuing Ed Center as part of their growing GIS relate studies. For more information contact Lavonne Gatlin, Interim Director for the Continuing Education Center.
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| 06/15/07 |
The City of Atlanta has selected Keck & Wood, Inc. to provide GIS training services. Keck & Wood will teach several classes for the City's many GIS users. These classes will include ESRI's Introduction to ArcGIS I & II as well as Keck & Wood's Using AutoCAD data in ArcGIS.
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| 05/20/07 |
Fulton County Georgia has selected Keck & Wood, Inc. assist them in developing digital data submission standards. Keck & Wood will create templates and training materials that will be provided to County employees and Developers working in the County to ensure any new developements meet the new submission standard. The purpose of the project is to make it easier for the County to track developement and integrate that data into it's facilities management and mapping system.
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| 12/27/06 |
Houston County Tax Assessors Office has selected Keck & Wood, Inc., a long time leader in GIS and ESRI Business Partner, to migrate their existing Autodesk mapping system to ESRI’s ArcGIS suite. The Assessors Office is very excited about the migration and working with Keck & Wood, Inc. By making use of ArcGIS 9.2’s abilities, this migration will greatly improve the capabilities and efficiencies of the Assessors Office mapping personnel. All of which will lead to improved service to those in the County.
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| 10/25/06 |
Keck & Wood would like to congratulate Tripp Corbin, the head of our GIS department, for becoming a Certified Floodplain Manager (CFM). The CFM certification is a nationally recognized program from the Association of State Floodplain Managers and is supported by FEMA.
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| 05/24/06 | The City of Fort Oglethorpe has selected Keck & Wood to assist them in developing a GIS and to locate their utility structures with GPS. |
| 04/10/06 | Keck & Wood is pleased to announce our new Mobile Training Lab. The lab consists of 8 laptops with the new dual core processor, projector, and wireless network router. This new high tech lab will allow Keck & Wood much greater flexibility in meeting our clients training needs. |
| 02/03/06 | Construction is nearing completion of a new 300,000 gallon elevated water storage tank for the City of Cordele, Georgia that, when completed, will be the tallest storage tank in Georgia. |
Through an introduction by Keck & Wood, PSD Software formed a partnership with BinaryBus. BinaryBus is an ESRI Business Partner that specializing in hosting GIS websites powered by ArcIMS and ArcGIS Server. The result of the partnership is “HiperGIS”, a map-based solution that combines the superior functionality of HiperWeb with a GIS interface. Better yet, the solution is affordable, with pricing tiers based on population size and number of modules needed, so more functions can be added as the system’s needs increase. 
On June 19th the Board of Waterworks Commissioners of the Lafourche Parish Water District No. 1 adopted the budget for fiscal year 2009. Budget preparation is a joint effort of the District’s staff and Keck & Wood, Inc. as management consultant to the District. The budget contains projected system earnings and expenses, a capital improvements listing and a rate schedule to keep earnings revenue neutral with respect to expense growth. The new budget year begins July 1st.
We have upgraded our portable training lab with new top of the line Dell Vostro 1700 laptops. This is a new model from Dell designed to offer the same performance of larger desktops but with all the portability of a laptop. These new laptops feature high performance Duo-Core processors, 17 inch Ultra Sharp Wide Screen Displays, built-in 10 key numberpad, DVD RW drives, 3 GB of RAM and high performance hard drives. These new laptops will not only give our clients a better training experience but will also allow us to develop and teach more advanced classes such as ArcGIS Server. In addition to upgrading the laptops, we have also increased the number we have from 8 to 10.
ArcGIS 9.3 is scheduled to be released later this year. To complement the new software release, ESRI has revamped its official training classes to reflect new functionality and input from class evaluations completed by past students. Keck & Wood's instructors are currently going through the process to upgrade our authorizations so we will be able to offer the new ArcGIS 9.3 classes very soon. You can visit the GIS training and support page for more information about the new classes for ArcGIS 9.3.
Lastly we plan to add an additional ESRI Authorized Instructor to our staff. Right now Tripp Corbin, GISP, Vice President of GIS services for Keck & Wood, is our only official ESRI Authorized Instructor. He has built a reputation as an outstanding instructor that can easily convey very complex concepts and terminology related to GIS. The demand for our training services has grown so much, that Tripp is not able to meet it. Randall Carlton, the newest member of our GIS Team, has begun the process to become an ESRI Authorized Instructor. Randall is a former ArcFM instructor and has taught several custom ArcGIS desktop classes. He will make a great addition to our training staff and will continue Keck & Wood’s tradition of providing effective training services.
Keck & Wood is excited to annouce the opening of our newest office in Charlotte North Carolina.The Charlotte Office will be a satellite to our well established office in Rock Hill South Carolina and will be providing