Surdex Corporation

There are several resources that enable Surdex to acquire project data on schedule. One of the keys to this success is our fleet of aircraft. Surdex owns 11 aircraft, which are collectively able to host all of our imagery and lidar sensors. Our fleet includes 5 twin-turbine pressurized aircraft: 4 Cessna 441s (Conquests) and a recent addition to our fleet, a Rockwell Turbo Commander (another twin-turbine). These aircraft are critical for projects that are far away and/or cove...r a large area. The remainder of the fleet are twin-piston and single-piston aircraft that are ideal for other types of collection. We also have our own aircraft mechanics who perform maintenance, inspections and repairs and ensure all FAA regulations are followed. Having this fleet of aircraft and support staff enables us to keep our aircraft in the air, taking advantage of clear acquisition conditions. See more

Surdex's Project Management staff oversees the day-to-day production and schedules of our current mapping projects. They have kick-off meetings internally to make sure our production staff understands upcoming projects, and kick-off meetings with clients to make sure everyone is on the same page before we commence acquisition. From that point forward, project managers keep clients updated on project progress and coordinate with clients and operations staff to guarantee t...hat all client needs are met. Our four Project Mangers report to the Director of Project Management, Wade Williams, who has been with Surdex for 25 years. When asked about the most rewarding part of working in Project Management, Senior Project Manager Cornell Rowan said, the real reward is being able to communicate with the client and the internal production team to complete projects on schedule and correct the first time. Wade says, it’s great when I’m able to meet with our clients and hear how appreciative they are for all the hard work we put into every project. Shown here (left to right): Adam Hoffman, Project Manager; Colby Forke, Director of Image Processing; and Wade Williams, Director of Project Management, attending a conference. See more

Congratulations Employee of the Quarter / Employee of the Year! Surdex has truly excellent employees. Our success hinges on how well every employee operates to ensure our products are on time and meet our rigorous standards for quality. At the end of each quarter, employees nominate fellow employees who have made some exceptional effort, and an Employee of the Quarter is chosen. At the end of the year, the quarterly winners are evaluated, and an Employee of the Year is selected. Employee of the Quarter (Q4 2020): Michael Grodek, Ortho Technician Employee of the Year (2020): Jen Clamors, Photographer

Surdex holds many qualifications-based contracts with federal and state agencies that public entities can use for engineering, transportation, agricultural and other projects. In all cases, vendors are screened to ensure experience, competency and past performance. In some cases, the governmental agency selects and approves only a handful of vendors. Federal Contracts: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) U.S. Geological Survey Geospatial Products and Services Contract ...(USGS GPSC III) U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), Earth Observation Solutions State Contracts: Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) Co-op Contract Program Missouri Statewide Services Contract, Photogrammetric Mapping Products and Services Minnesota Cooperative Purchasing Venture (CPV) SWIFT Master Contract, Aerial Imagery State of Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA) Illinois DOT (IDOT) North Carolina DOT (NCDOT) Surdex is also prequalified with numerous state Departments of Transportation that enable us to begin work on their projects immediately.

Ongoing COVID-19 Responsiveness: With 2020 behind us, as we gear up for 2021, Surdex will continue to maintain robust COVID-19 protocol to safeguard employee health, avoiding shutdowns and slowdowns due to illness and quarantine. 95% of our office staff works remotely, with only a handful of key IT and other staff in the main building to continue work that requires manual processing. Our pilots and flight crews observe all CDC protocol for safety to ensure our flight department remains airborne and collecting your data.

Happy New Year! 2020 was a trying year for many of us, and among the things we learned was what amazing things people can achieve by pulling together. We look to this new year with cautious optimism that things will get better for everyone. Best wishes for a better 2021! Here is a view to remind us of the magnificence of the world. Photo by our pilot George Duke.

Staff Spotlight: Accounting and Human Resources The Accounting and HR departments manage employee relations, recruitment, hiring, payroll, and benefits. They are essential to ensuring the well-being of all employees. Accounting makes sure everyone receives their paycheck on schedule and assists with time sheet problems. The HR department is always extremely helpful when someone is struggling with a claim, and acts as a point of contact between our benefits providers... and our staff. The HR staff also put an exceptional effort towards finding and welcoming new employees who will make our company stronger. Deb Trautman is our HR Manager, and she has been with Surdex for 5 years. Jon Mueller, our Director of Finance (pictured), joined our team earlier this year. Our HR staff said they all miss the face-to-face interaction in the office now that we are almost all working from home, but they are making the most of our current situation. Jon Mueller says the most rewarding part of his job is being invited to Teams meetings, which provides me with a true feeling of belonging to the Surdex team, and keeps me abreast of key areas of the business. Deb Trautman says she is really proud of the culture we all work to maintain, even with working from home. People are connecting personally, learning new skills and are going above and beyond. See more

Surdex's marketing department’s primary goal is to support our business development effort by producing materials that explain and showcase our superior performance and quality products. This includes many aspects of support including the development of print and digital material, market research, conference support, and contract management. Other key responsibilities include responding to Requests for Proposals (RFPs) in collaboration with the sales and production staff... and maintaining our pre-qualifications with many public entities. The marketing team also prepares material for our website, social media, and articles for publication. Our Marketing Manager, Mark Zeman, has been with Surdex for 6 years, and has four marketing personnel in his group. Under normal circumstances, Surdex employees attend numerous conferences and trade shows in person, and marketing handles registration and preparation / shipping of booths and conference material to ensure our exhibitors have everything they need for a successful show. When asked about the most rewarding part of her work, Kim Dedmon, Sales Support, said: Client satisfaction calls. Some of our clients have never visited our office, but when they talk about our communication and they know how hard we worked on their project, it’s almost like they were sitting in on one of the ortho department meetings. Mark Zeman says one of the most rewarding things is seeing the coordination among employees. Our group works with production, sales, IT, flight and we bring all the pieces together so clients will see how we will meet all their needs and deliver quality products. Lorie Thomas, Proposal Coordinator, said she likes being on the marketing team because she likes the people and how well we work together. Shown: Tracy Ray, Technical Writer, and her trusty assistant Rosie working remotely. See more

From dressing up pets to carving pumpkins, Surdex staff have been in the spooky spirit! Check out their pictures of Halloween fun.

The Key to Working Remotely: IT Support Most of Surdex’s employees have been working from home since mid-March. Our IT staff were instrumental in making an uninterrupted transition to home office workstations, and their technical support is key to the ongoing successful operation of our company. Surdex’s IT staff includes System Administrator Dave Kasefang and Jr. System Administrator Steve Clement. The biggest challenge they have faced with switching everyone to workin...g remotely was the added complexity to the work environment over VPN, according to Clement. He says they learned how to deal with common issues and created processes for quickly resolving remote work issues. When an employee has a technical problem, IT uses screen sharing and remote access of employee’s computers to troubleshoot and resolve the problem. With these tools, our IT staff works as efficiently as ever. They are enjoying the benefits of remote work, including an increased ability to focus and more time to walk the dog given the shorter commute time! To learn more about the work of Surdex’s IT staff, check out our Data Management flyer on our website Resources page: https://www.surdex.com/about/resources/ Shown: System Administrator Dave Kasefang working remotely with his assistant Roscoe. See more

Surdex mechanics have incredible skills. Here one changes a tire in mid-air. https://youtu.be/dDC1qRq8nog

Surdex held its quarterly State of the Company meeting (our second virtual one), during which our President and department managers update our staff on recent projects and internal developments and process improvements. As part of the meeting, the Employee of the Quarter finalists and the winner are announced. Congratulations to our latest Employee of the Quarter, Sarah Montoya, aerial photographer.

This year Surdex was awarded a contract for the USDA’s National Resource Inventory (NRI) program, which includes spot shot collection of many small sites, typically 160 acres each, across the country. Since this is a departure from our usual model of large area acquisition, Surdex wanted to customize our flight planning process to more efficiently acquire the numerous, dispersed sites within our assigned states. Our Research & Development and Flight departments have success...fully designed and implemented a unique flight planning process for these projects that includes multi-frame acquisition, collection of two to four sites per flight line, and adjusted flight line orientation. The new approach focuses on orienting flight lines for optimal collection efficiency rather than emphasizing a north-south acquisition approach. This planning strategy ensures the critical acquisition phase remains on schedule. See more

The Missouri State Assessor Association (MSAA) 2020 Conference is from Oct. 4-8 in Lake of the Ozarks. In attendance are Tim Donze, VP of Business Development (shown here demonstrating the finer points of aviation) and Tracy Ray, Technical Writer.

Surdex relies on our online Flight Tracker tool to efficiently assign aircraft to project areas across the U.S., and our R&D staff are continuously improving this tool with new features. Most recently, they added a spring leaf-out forecast data layer. This new feature enables us to keep an eye on the predicted end to the spring leaf-off acquisition season, ensuring projects are completed within the proper timeframe. At the top of the GIF you can see the forecast progressing further into the future. The data for this leaf-out forecast comes from the USA National Phenology Network.

As part of Surdex’s employee wellness program, this time of year employees are given the opportunity to receive free flu shots and to participate in a free biometric screening. This screening involves a blood pressure check and a blood draw for 50 blood tests. Screenings are instrumental for monitoring personal health and can facilitate early detection of potential health problems. On average, 60% of participants have at least one test that shows up outside of normal l...ab reference range. Early detection leads to early intervention, and as a result, employees enjoy a higher level of health. For convenience, medical staff ordinarily host testing in our office. Here Human Resources Manager Deb Trautman from last year receiving her flu shot in the office. (During the outbreak, the program administrators are having employees visit a lab of their choice.) See more

Given the significant amount of wildfires the nation has experienced, Surdex concluded that the amount of smoke in certain regions could impact aerial acquisition. To manage aircraft in these areas, we have modified our online Flight Tracker tool to include wildfire and smoke data. This enhancement enables our Flight Department to monitor atmospheric/weather conditions and assign acquisition resources accordingly. Knowing when and where acquisition may not be possible enables us to reduce fuel and labor hours spent on unproductive or severely inefficient acquisition missions.

With COVID-19, most of us have had some unexpected free time due to the lack of a commute while working from home and event cancellations. We asked Surdex staff how they have been spending their spare time, and they provided very interesting responses and pictures depicting their hobbies. Check out these pictures to see what they've been up to!

Surdex was chosen as a prime contractor for the USDA National Resource Inventory (NRI) program and we are excited to be involved in another aerial imagery program with the USDA. This program involves high resolution, multispectral four-band imagery for the purposes of interpretive analysis and extraction of GIS measurements. The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) collects data on land cover and land use, soil erosion, farmland, wetlands and other natural resources. Our task order includes all sites for thirteen states. Surdex greatly appreciates this opportunity to increase our support for critical USDA programs.

Last month, Surdex had its second virtual State of the Company quarterly meeting. Under normal circumstances, employees are treated to a catered lunch at the end of the in-person meetings, but since this meeting was virtual, employees were all sent digital gift cards for pizza delivery. We decided to turn this into a pizza photo contest to help the staff feel more connected while working remotely. Surdex staff submitted a picture of themselves with their pizza, and everyone voted on their favorite photoand it certainly turned out to be a very fun activity for all. Our winning photo shows Rachael Donaldson, Executive Assistant, attempting to unwind after a day of working from home. At least she didn’t have to cook that night!