Imagine a client comes to CEC with a wish list for a site location for its new project.
Let’s say the client’s four criteria include a 100-acre plot, railroad access, a parcel zoned industrial, and a known brownfield site.
That criterion is inputted into a dashboard and like magic, out comes a list of suitable locations. Those locations are further funneled into “good,” “better,” and “best” choices for the client.
One of the driving forces of that magic is Matt Kramer, CEC’s Corporate Geospatial Systems Administrator. He and his fellow Columbus office mate, Wyatt Guthrie, Senior GIS Analyst, have created a workflow to build out the dashboards with ArcGIS Enterprise, using CEC gathered data and data available on publicly existing sites. Example data sets could include brownfield sites, streams, railroads, among others.
Matt was named as one of CEC’s 2023 Innovation Award winners for his ArcGIS Pro Figure and database automation initiative.
Initial assessment, due diligence, and preliminary engineering tasks make up a significant portion of CEC project tasks. The deliverables for these tasks are generally standardized, typically through CEC quality policies and standards or by government/jurisdictional regulators. Even though each site is different and presents its own set of challenges, the workflow to create an initial deliverable is generally consistent.
“Ninety percent of the tasks are the same, 10 percent are not, and those required minor fixes can lead to major problems,” Matt said. This automation ensures all the properties are consistently set properly, which also makes cross-collaboration much easier.
Harnessing ArcGIS Enterprise for Data-Driven Decision Making
ArcGIS Enterprise is like a powerful digital toolbox for managing and using geographic information (like maps and location data) within organizations. Essentially, it allows people to create maps, analyze spatial data, and share their findings with others in a secure and controlled environment, making it easier to make decisions based on location-based information. “We can incorporate client data, as well,” Matt added.
“All of CEC has access to ArcGIS and depending on the job, can build these dashboards and give the clients access. We’re the ones doing the reviewing and creating the ‘short list’ for the client,” he added.
CEC has been creating the dashboards since 2021 with the most successes in Ohio.
“Mike Coonfare (a Senior Project Manager in CEC’s Toledo office) has taken the results to clients and just run with it. He has shown the value of these dashboards and of CEC to his clients,” Matt said. “This builds client confidence.”
“Matt, Wyatt, and the GIS team have amazed me with the quality of data they can provide in a very short turn. I am a visual person, so having an interactive view of potential project sites helps me communicate better with our clients, and also provides me with a touch point with CEC’s clients,” Mike said.
Specifically, using these dashboards in Allen County, Ohio resulted in the identification of a 52-acre brownfield property and a $200,000 brownfield assessment project. In Hancock County, Ohio, Matt and his GIS team were able to pivot and provide a list of residential properties that are under ownership of a lending institution (potential foreclosure).
“Hancock County used this data to support the need for a County Landbank. With all the development activity in Ohio over the last two years, especially concerning data centers, I can see this same tool being used to identify mega sites (400-plus acres) with access to public water, public sewer, and power,” he added.
Future Prospects: Expanding Smart Form Technology
This wealth of information gathered does not exist in a vacuum on a client-by-client basis. “It can be used in all areas of GIS and has a ton of value,” Matt said.
“We are pushing field data collection. It had traditionally been done with pen and paper, but we are converting to electronic collection using smart forms. When the data is submitted via the smart form from the field, it goes directly into the dashboard,” he said.
This technology gives a lot more info about various sites, as well as the ability to gather and input additional information for CEC’s internal project and location search. All data is live and updated in real time.
“This completely replaces pen and paper and standardizes data collection. The field staff is all talking the same language now,” Matt said. CEC’s Ecological and Environmental staff are now utilizing the new data collection process and he hopes to open it to all groups soon.
“It’s been a collaborative effort,” he said.
Matt and Wyatt are both members of CEC’s Electronic Data Management team, which is focused on developing these electronic data collection methods in collaboration with project managers and field staff.
About Columbus
CEC’s Columbus office was established in 1997 with waste, civil, and environmental practices. Ecological services were added in 2004. It has grown into a full-service office supporting each market with diversity across the professional disciplines. With more than 65 professionals, CEC Columbus now has civil engineers, surveyors, biologists, geologists, and environmental scientists. Our main revenue sources currently include real estate development, natural gas development, and aggregate mining permitting and development.
Matt Kramer recently earned a GISP (Geographic Information Systems Professional) Certification, you can reach him at mkramer@cecinc.com, 800.365.2324 x3338 or 614.310.2077. Contact Wyatt Guthrie at wguthrie@cecinc.com, 800.365.2324 x3359 or 614.468.6206.
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