Reston, VA, April 15, 2008- John M. Palatiello, President and Owner of John M. Palatiello & Associates, Inc., Reston, Virginia will be installed as a member of the Interior Department's "National Geospatial Advisory Committee (NGAC)" on Tuesday, April 15. Palatiello was appointed to the Committee by Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne, along with 28 public and private sector representatives.

Palatiello is the Executive Director of the Management Association of Private Photogrammetric Surveyors (MAPPS), the only association of private geospatial firms in the United States. He also serves as Administrator of the Council on Federal Procurement of Architectural-Engineering Services (COFPAES), a coalition of the nation's leading design professional societies. He served for nine years as a member of the Fairfax County Planning Commission, representing the Hunter Mill District. He served on an advisory committee to the Virginia state legislature to create the Virginia Geographic Information Network (VGIN) and was a member of a study committee on licensing of Photogrammetrists that made recommendations to the Virginia Board of Architects, Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, Certified Interior Designers and Landscape Architects (APELSCIDLA).

The National Geospatial Advisory Committee will provide advice and recommendations on federal geospatial policy and management issues and provide a forum to convey views representative of partners in the geospatial community. The committee will report to the chair of the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC), a Federal interagency executive group within the Interior Department.

Founded in 1987, JMP&A (www.jmpa.us) specializes in providing association management, marketing, strategic planning, public relations and government affairs services to associations, firms, government agencies, and organizations, specializing in the geospatial, architecture-engineering, land use and infrastructure markets.