KGIS Day 20 Year Anniversary

On November 22, 2005, KGIS celebrated its 20th Year Anniversary by hosting a GIS Day event in the Small Assembly Room. During the event, KGIS Executive Director Keith Stump recognized the Honorable Mr. Dwight Kessel with a KGIS Champion award. Click Here for the KGIS 20 Years Brochure.

BELOW is Executive Director Keith Stump's prepared opening remarks for KGIS Day 2005, including the presentation of the KGIS Champion Award. 

May I have your attention please.

I want to thank Everyone for being here today, on this 20th Anniversary of KGIS.

I especially want to recognize some special guests who are here, including KGIS’s current Policy Board members:

the Mayor of Knox County, the Honorable Mike Ragsdale; 
the Mayor of the City of Knoxville,  the Honorable Bill Haslam, 
and the CEO and President of KUB, the Honorable Mintha Roach.

And there are some other good representatives here today also, including:

Ms. Mary Lou Horner, Knox County Commission
Mr. Joe Hultquist, Knoxville City Council
Mr. Tim Burchett, Tennessee House of Representatives

A special thank you goes out to the individuals, departments and organizations who are participating in today’s event, and who have helped with its planning. Mr. Chris Halcomb, in particular, has done an excellent job on pulling things together in a relatively short timeframe. So thank you Chris.

As many of you already know, this KGIS organization was formally created back in 1985, as a unique collaboration between three separate organizations, who together recognized the benefits to creating a single “computerized mapping system”. 

Today, that “computerized mapping system” has grown to become the Knoxville, Knox County, KUB Geographic Information System, otherwise known as KGIS. And while GIS technology is now widespread, and sharing of geographic data is increasingly commonplace; KGIS still remains unique. Perhaps no better example exists of a locally organized GIS, involving both government and utilities, and founded upon the use of a SINGLE and SHARED system. 

The KGIS partnership could not have occurred without the help of many individuals, some of whom are also here today. Mr. John Lutz, KGIS’s former Director of 15 years, Mr. David Reece, formerly of KUB, Mr. Bob Bowers, formerly with the City of Knoxville, and Mr. John Antennucci, President of Plangraphics, Inc. – they all contributed greatly to the success of KGIS, especially in its formative years. 

 
But on this 20th Anniversary, and in this Thanksgiving week, we also have the chance to say Thank You to one individual who was a true “Champion” to KGIS: former Knox County Executive, Mr. Dwight Kessel.

Mr. Kessel, in particular, helped to successfully lobby the County Commission for KGIS’ initial funding more than 20 years ago, and he helped to enlist the participation of such key departments as the Knox County Property Assessor, upon whose support the KGIS system continues to absolutely depend. 

Dwight served on the initial KGIS Policy Board, along with former City Mayor Kyle Testerman and with KUB’s General Manager Ed Hoskins, and helped to lead KGIS in its initial and somewhat challenging digital map conversion projects. 

And during his tenure on the Board, Dwight helped to promote the KGIS mission of being the County’s “primary source for Geographic Information”, and the official minutes document his concerns about “keeping the system current” and up-to-date.

Therefore, it is with great pride that I wish to recognize Mr. Dwight Kessel as a “KGIS Champion”. And I want to thank him, and his lovely wife Gloria, for being here today. 

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Again I would like to say thank you to all who are here, and we hope to see you again 20 years from now.

Now, I want to turn our attention to the award ceremony for the maps and exhibits that are on display today…..

20 Years Brochure