MPC Hires GIS Operator

MPC welcomes our newest employee, James Reed, who has joined the Addressing Department as a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Operator. Reed will be verifying existing addresses and assigning new ones?an important task since E911, the postal service, and utility companies use MPC's master address files every day to locate homes and businesses.

Reed spent the last five years working for the Harriman Utility Board as an engineering assistant and said he got involved in GIS by chance. He took the Harriman job thinking he'd be doing drafting, but he ended up learning and using GIS to do his job better?and he found that he loved the field!

"It's really neat to see how computerized mapping and data management help people in their daily lives," he said, with a look of excitement that backed up his words. Maybe one other reason that he loves GIS is because it led him to meeting his wife, Beth. "I'd been a graphic designer for 11 years and wanted to try something new," he said. "If I hadn't changed careers, I never would have met my wife."

Reed lives in Oak Ridge with Beth, his step-daughter Alex, and his son, Tucker. When he's not working, he studies martial arts and helps teach the children's class where he trains.

Welcome, James! Glad to have you aboard!

Posted 11-06-2013. Written by Sarah Powell.