St. Charles, IL – As they analyzed their current land records management processes and workflows, the City of Beloit recognized the need to modernize and automate their mapping system, and make it easier to distribute and deploy data to all potential users. According to the City’s GIS Coordinator Keith Houston, “We knew we wanted a solution that would incorporate state-of-the-art GIS technology, be capable of supporting our land parcel information needs, and fit seamlessly with our chosen workflow strategy.” After a comprehensive qualifications-based selection process, the City chose The Sidwell Company to serve as their GIS consultant.

Sidwell—a provider of geographic information systems, aerial photography, cadastral mapping and website provision services—will convert the City of Beloit’s current cadastral data into an ESRI® ArcGIS® Geodatabase platform, and provide an ESRI-based software solution for maintaining the GIS. This GIS solution will also support a direct interface to the City’s application for tax cycle administration. The City will receive Sidwell’s Parcel Builder™ integrated software suite for use in maintaining the converted data, as well as several hours of customized training on how to maximize use of this mapping productivity toolkit. The County is also contracting with Sidwell to provide mapping services to prepare the cadastral database for plotting, including the creation of map indexes, templates and symbology style sets that are designed for use with the Parcel Builder-MapPlotter™ software module.

Along with data conversion, Sidwell will develop and maintain a GIS website for the City. The new website will include a map navigation capability and a parcel number querying application with which users of the website (i.e. citizens and businesses) can easily access land parcel and ownership information. At the completion of this project, the City will have all its parcel data in the most current technology from ESRI; an integrated parcel management system for daily maintenance and map production, a public access website, and training that will allow them to manage and extend the system on their own. The overall impact of this project will be to accomplish the City’s ultimate objective with regard to their land parcel maintenance needs: they will be able to increase the accuracy of their parcel data creation and maintenance in a true GIS environment.

About this project, Neal Carpenter, President and CEO of The Sidwell Company, says ““We are thrilled to have been selected by The City of Beloit, and are dedicated to meeting their needs and exceeding their expectations. I am confident that the outstanding GIS staff at the City will use the results of this project to meaningfully improve the quality of the services they provide to the people of Beloit.”


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About Sidwell
The Sidwell Company is an employee-owned firm providing integrated land records management solutions and GIS mapping and software development to local government and private-sector organizations across the United States. Sidwell’s premier parcel mapping solution, Parcel Builder™, is currently used by over 140 customers nationwide. Sidwell also offers a full range of aerial photography and photogrammetric services, and is the Midwest Distributor for Magellan™ GPS products and solutions. For more information about Sidwell services and products, call 877.SIDWELL (877.743.9355) or visit www.sidwellco.com.