inside 39°north
We were working at the Indiana Geological Survey (IGS), a research institute of Indiana University, when Chris, Alex and Prem met each other. After coming together at the IGS, the three of us worked on numerous high-profile, award-winning GIS projects. A few of them included "A GIS for Southwestern Indiana" and "A GIS Atlas for Indiana." The GIS for Southwestern Indiana was a GIS was part of an Environmental Impact Statement that Bernardin, Lochmueller and Associates, Inc. (BLA) was preparing for the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) in consideration of a new Interstate highway between Indianapolis and Evansville. The GIS included approximately 150 shapefiles, grids, and georeferenced images. These layers were derived from a variety of sources, including federal and state agencies, as well as IGS and BLA. The GIS for Southwestern Indiana was later expanded to include the entire state in a project titled "A GIS Atlas for Indiana," which is now known as the IndianaMap. This project was awarded ESRI's Special Achievement in GIS Award at the 2005 ESRI User Conference.
Although working on these projects were instrumental in the professional development of ourselves, as time passed, we took notice of a reoccuring need for customized GIS services. With no start-up capital and one Dell desktop computer, we knew we'd have to think to make a living, and soon 39°N was born. Since then, we have expanded our customers to a diverse set of clients ranging from local government to state government to higher education and several private sector companies specializing in defense and energy.