News
Recognizing the Service of Our Public Partners
Since 1985, Public Service Recognition Week has been observed during the first week of May. The week is dedicated to recognizing the people who serve our nation as federal, state, county, local, and tribal government employees. Our team has been fortunate to regularly work alongside public agency staff. Over the past year, we have admired…
Eric Sack, GISPFLO President Becomes an Admin for a Day
On Friday, April 16, 2021, I had the opportunity to work as an administrative teammate. I was told to be on-site in our Portland office at 8:00 a.m., bring a mask, and remember social distancing requirements. I decided to get to the office a little early so I could get set up, but when I…
Steven P. TaylorDiversity, Equity, and Inclusion at FLO: Progress and Future Plans
In 2019, FLO launched a diversity, equity, and inclusion initiative. Three core values guide DEI at FLO: Everyone deserves a safe, equitable, and inclusive workplace. We can better serve the communities where we work by increasing the diversity and cultural competence of our firm. We must work to resist and reverse systemic racism within our firm,…
Jennifer KingRedistricting for Local Governments: What You Need to Know
When people think about redistricting, the first thing that comes to mind is usually congressional districts. However, many local government agencies are also required to reapportion their voting districts every ten years. Due to challenges with the latest census, this year’s data release has been delayed until September. Unfortunately, this delay could mean that local…
John McKenzieAbout the Project Central Valley School District didn’t need to wait until their new high school was built to learn which families would be interested in moving from their current high school to the new one. FLO Engage, a tool we...
Leora WernerAbout the Project In response to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, the Association of Washington Cities needed to persuade the Washington state legislature to advance a watershed-based strategic plan to address local fish-blocking...
Leora WernerAbout the Project The Association of Washington Cities collected event attendance data for years, but without an easy way to visualize the information AWC could not efficiently identify their less engaged members. FLO developed a...
Leora WernerAbout the Project The COVID-19 pandemic sparked two emergencies for Connecticut, one for public health and one for the economy. The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities addressed both with a data analytics dashboard. The...
Leora WernerAbout the Project City of Monroe knew they could use their GIS for more than creating electronic copies of paper maps to track assets for their public works department, but weren’t sure where to start. The implementation of a new asset...
Leora WernerAbout the Cemetery Management Project When City of Omak needed a new cemetery management system, they reached out to FLO for help. Although based on a GIS system, the software the City was using was no longer supported by modern computer...
Ashlyn SalzmanAbout the Project Clackamas County Water Environmental Services (WES) provides water, sewer, and stormwater services crucial to human health, producing clean water and protecting water quality for Clackamas County citizens. The organization...
Ashlyn SalzmanMeet the Client Clark Regional Wastewater District, one of the largest sewer districts in Washington State, provides wastewater services to approximately 100,000 people in Clark County. According to CRWWD, its customer base has nearly doubled...
Leora WernerMeet the Client Whatcom County Public Works Department provides many important services, such as stormwater management, to residents. In rainy northwest Washington State where Whatcom County is located, a well-maintained stormwater...
Leora WernerAbout the Project North Clackamas School District (NCSD) was experiencing significant student enrollment growth in a particularly fast-growing area of Clackamas County. This—in addition to a new elementary and high school and the...
Leora WernerAfter the passage of a $619.7 million bond in May 2018, Salem-Keizer Public Schools (SKPS) began planning for construction to increase capacity and accommodate a growing student body. In order to balance 10-year projected enrollment and...
Leora WernerAbout the Project The rugged sagebrush ecosystem, home of the sage grouse, is the most widespread in the intermountain lowlands of the western United States, but it is also one of the most imperiled. Lack of protection and the continued...
Leora WernerSolid waste and recycling collection within Washington County is managed by private collection companies, who use legal certificates that guarantee them exclusive authority to collect waste in a given geographic area. The last update of the...
Leora WernerLincoln County found that its 20-acre property used for the Lincoln County Fair was underutilized and not producing sufficient revenues to cover the year-round costs of owning and maintaining the site. To identify potential expanded...
Leora WernerSnoqualmie Pass Utility District (SPUD) manages water and sewer utilities for the mountainous Snoqualmie Pass area, a popular outdoor recreation destination for the Seattle area. With no existing SPUD GIS or workable asset management system...
Leora WernerAbout the Project The City of Sammamish is experiencing a high rate of population growth, spurring a surge of building construction in the area. City leaders identified two challenges exacerbated by the increase in development: citizens were...
Leora WernerA non-profit land trust explores the impact of climate change on a nature preserve using aerial imagery and maps captured by unmanned aerial systems (UAS). Inland Northwest Land Conservancy (INLC) works with willing private landowners to...
Leora WernerUnmanned aerial systems (UAS) aided a county in efficient and accurate landfill management. As municipal solid waste is unloaded into landfill cells, the waste compacts and settles, reducing the landfill’s surface elevation....
Leora WernerUnmanned aerial systems (UAS) quickly and efficiently documented destructive flooding with aerial footage. Flooding in Ellensburg, Washington, unexpectedly shut down roads and inundated agricultural fields. In need of a quick way to...
Leora WernerAerial maps helped a farm manager understand impacts and patterns of seasonal flooding. Founded in the 1850s, Plas Newydd Farm in Ridgefield, Washington, has been managed as a year-round dairy farm and cattle ranch, as well as for...
Leora WernerA 3D terrain model of a rock quarry created using unmanned aerial systems (UAS) saved the quarry’s owner time and money. When Potlach, a public diversified forest products and real estate company, needed to know the remaining capacity of...
Leora WernerAerial imagery enriched the Port of Ridgefield's ability to tell a detailed story about the renaissance of their waterfront. From the mid-1960s to the early 1990s, Pacific Wood Treating Co (PWT) pressure-treated wood products with toxic...
Leora WernerWhen it comes to topographic mapping, unmanned aerial systems (UAS) are an efficient and inexpensive alternative to total station surveys or aerial surveys using aircraft. The high cost of total station surveys or aerial surveys using...
Leora WernerWhen you hear the word “plumber” you might think of someone coming to your home to repair a leaky kitchen sink, but in reality, plumbers and other pipe trades workers do a whole lot more. They maintain the infrastructure that keeps our...
Leora WernerThe story map we developed in collaboration with Greenbelt Land Trust won first place in the Conservation, Environment, and Sustainability category of Esri's storytelling with maps contest in 2015. The map journal takes you along a trail at...
Leora WernerAs part of a multi-disciplinary team, we evaluated Pierce County's existing land use policy for designating agricultural resource lands (ARL). This evaluation process led to our recommendations for alternative approaches to better protect and...
Leora WernerThe Wallowa Land Trust (WLT) works with private landowners, tribes, local communities, and government entities to preserve and protect the rural nature of the lands they serve. In order to take their conservation efforts to the next level, WLT...
Leora WernerAfter completing a GIS needs assessment, the City of Shelton prioritized the conversion and development of their GIS-based stormwater utility dataset. We developed a scope of work that would both accomplish the city's conversion goals and...
Leora WernerAbout the Project Several years of rapid population growth and increasing pressure on city services motivated the City of Pullman to identify more efficient ways to track, manage, and scale up operations across city departments. Pullman’s...
Leora WernerThe Burlington-Edison School District was in the process of updating their Capital Facility Plan when they reached out to FLO Analytics for a new student enrollment forecast. The district needed help answering pressing questions, like:...
Leora WernerEdmonds School District (ESD) found themselves in need of a better way to use student enrollment projections to plan for future facilities. The problem? The district’s enrollment projections provided forecasts for the district as a...
Leora WernerRedrawing school attendance boundaries can be stressful for school district leaders—not only do they have to make the best possible decisions about current school capacities and student-teacher ratios, but they also must ensure that...
Tyler VickAFS-USA (AFS) is a nonprofit organization based in New York City that offers international exchange programs in more than 40 countries around the world. We’ve worked with AFS over several years, providing them with the means to make...
Tyler VickWe were asked by High Desert Organix to conduct a GIS-based site suitability analysis to identify a site for the construction of an organic compost facility that would have minimal environmental impact, land disturbance, public risk, and site...
Tyler VickEarth Fare is the second largest natural foods store chain in the country, with over 30 stores located in ten states east of the Mississippi River. Recently, Earth Fare became interested in growing their business by looking for opportunities...
Tyler VickThe City of Spokane and the Northeast Public Development Authority are leading an effort to revitalize an approximately 500-acre industrial area in the Hillyard neighborhood. The city is examining approaches to improving public infrastructure...
Tyler VickOur team conducted a solid waste system assessment for Thurston County to support their new solid waste management plan (SWMP) and to help meet capital facilities planning needs for six- and 20-year planning horizons. A critical component of...
Tyler VickBiomass, a renewable energy source, is an efficient way to generate energy from forest residues from timber harvesting and maintenance operations, as well as from mill residues from lumber and pulp and paper mill operations. We’ve partnered...
Tyler VickNew Seasons Market is a chain of grocery stores operating in the Portland, Oregon metro area, southwestern Washington, and northern California. With the goal of opening a number of additional stores, they looked to us to integrate GIS and...
Tyler VickHumanitarian relief and development NGOs often work in insecure countries where threats and risks can escalate and change at short notice. To maintain the effectiveness of a program, it is important that field staff and managers be kept...
Tyler VickHaving worked on numerous infrastructure projects in the U.S., we were excited at the opportunity to turn our attention to a Mercy Corps-led, $60 million, DFID-funded water, sanitation and hygiene program in three urban centers in the eastern...
Tyler VickAs part of a two-year project with electric utility Seattle City Light (SCL), we are providing the environmental affairs group with ongoing GIS services to support their Boundary Dam relicensing program. SCL’s Boundary project supplies more...
Tyler VickOur team is currently working with Multnomah County Drainage District (the District) to develop a comprehensive GIS-based asset management system to support their day-to-day management of the Columbia River floodplain and receiving stormwater...
Tyler VickThe City of Kelso’s Phase III Stormwater Management Plan (SMP) provides critical information for capital improvement projects and assists the city in complying with municipal stormwater permit requirements. To facilitate the development of...
Tyler VickLewis & Clark College is a liberal university that describes itself as a “private institution with a public conscience.” The campus is situated in a remarkable natural setting, among 137 wooded acres in Portland’s southwest...
Tyler VickCentral Valley School District is in Spokane County, one of the fastest-growing counties in Washington. Geographically diverse, the district spans urban and rural communities—all experiencing rates of residential development so high that...
Tyler VickTo help speed up the development, implementation, and monitoring of sediment cleanup and restoration projects under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has received funding...
Tyler VickAfter the April 20, 2010 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico that took 11 lives, oil was released for 87 days until the ruptured well was capped. As the subsequent natural resource damage assessment (NRDA)...
g-floPierce County Ag Roundtable (PCAR) is a collaboration of partner organizations interested in preserving and protecting agricultural lands in Pierce County, Washington, which has the highest rate of farmland loss in the Puget Sound Region. We...
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