Meet Gavin Jaravata, GIS Technician

Where are you from and where do you live now?

I grew up in a small unincorporated area called Silverdale in Washington State. I crossed the Puget Sound to go to college in Seattle and decided to stay after graduating.

What do you do at FLO?

I’m a GIS technician working in the local government sector. Local government can be a bit of a medley; I’ve gone from digitizing cemeteries from scans, to capturing utility structures from as-builts in GIS, to creating an electrical service area layer based on a legal description. Each city needs something a little bit different from us.

What’s rewarding about your job?

Working with FLO, I get to communicate and establish relationships with clients and see the immediate impact of what I do. I’ve held jobs where I’ve been pretty far removed from the process, so it’s a refreshing change!

Why is what you do important?

With local government, there’s a strong emphasis on organizing and retaining information. A city may find itself burdened with an unwieldy mass of paper records or at risk of losing institutional knowledge from a longstanding employee’s imminent retirement. I work to capture that information and consolidate it into a form that’s both accessible and digestible, ensuring that it’s not lost to time.

What skills do you bring to your work?

I’m pretty tenacious, and once I dive into my work I don’t stop going, no matter what the task is.

What do you like to do off the clock?

I am a retired professional musician. Well, more specifically, my neighbor paid me once to play a couple of songs for a small wedding party in his backyard. Although I haven’t had any gigs since, I still do like to pick up my bass and mess around on some 12-bar blues progressions.

If you were not a GIS Technician, what would you be?

Following up on the last question, I’d be playing music. Performing is a rush and nothing else can capture the feeling of being on stage, even if it’s in your neighbor’s backyard.

What’s on your bucket list?

To be honest, I never really put that much thought into bucket lists. One thing that’s always on my mind is returning to the motherland, which for me is the Philippines. I was born and raised in the States and have been to the Philippines only twice in my life, once as a child and again as a teenager. I want to go back and experience the Philippines as an adult and reconnect with the culture that my parents speak so fondly of. That, and playing music in my neighbor’s backyard again.

Learn More About Gavin