(submitted photo) (left to right: Commissioner Kirby Moynagh, Commissioner Jeanne Holland, GIS Coordinator Larkin Freeman, GIS Analyst Alex Murray, Commissioner Nadine Schoen, Commissioner Darek Vetsch)
The Wright County Board of Commissioners recently honored the county’s GIS, or, Geographic Informational System division on being presented at major award from a national organization.
The award was a Special Achievement in GIS (SAG) from Esri – a national organization that recognizes achievement in GIS. Wright County won for an application implemented to assist customers of Wright County Health & Human Services.
GIS Coordinator Larkin Freeman and GIS Analyst Alex Murray, who oversaw the work on an app called WrightAccess Point explained that the purpose of the app is to provide internal and external users with a web-based tool for quick and easy access to commonly requested information on services provided by Wright County HHS. Built as a centralized platform, it helps community members locate, access, and learn more about services available to them without having to call or visit the Government Center in person.
Freeman said out of tens of thousands of organizations that were eligible for a nomination for the honor, Wright County GIS was the only Minnesota organization, public or private, to win the award. Freeman called the award the “…gold standard in the GIS community.”
County Board members thanked Freeman and Murray for their work, and Board Chair Darek Vetsch emphasized the major advances throughout Wright County’s departments thanks to the work of the GIS Division.
Since its launch in December, the app has more than 8,000 views, which translates to about 30 uses of the app every day that eliminated the need for calls or in-person visits.
(content: courtesy, in part, Wright County)
