Defense dept. honors Missoula software firm Visual Learning Systems

Helena native David Optiz began creating a software system a few years ago by taking satellite images, converting them into
numbers readable by a computer and processing them into useful information.

By CHRISTINA QUINN, IR Business Writer

By 1999, the University of Montana assistant computer science professor, along with Stuart Blundell, a geographic information
systems specialist from Missoula, started Virtual Learning Systems, Inc., http://vls-inc.com/ and developed the program to the point of near perfection.

From a satellite photo, the program — Featured Analyst — can tell a spruce tree from a pine tree, can detect an airplane on a
runway and can map a water route faster and more accurately than virtually any other software in the world, according its founders.

Their struggle was breaking into the public market, where imaging companies typically get 85 percent of the their business, said
Kevin Opitz, David’s cousin and marketing director for VLS.

A small Montana firm has to beat the stigma that technology doesn’t exist in the rural state and compete with well-known firms like
Lockheed Martin and their lobbyists.
VLS needed to be validated, Kevin said.
This month the company was.
U.S. Department of Defensive preliminarily ranked VLS third in the world for its mapping tools to support the war on terrorism.

The high ranking and a new focus by the Bush Administration to spread the wealth around to rural states should give VLS leverage
over the bigger-named companies like Lockheed and The Boeing Company, according to Kevin.
“Definitely, the validation is what we’re looking for,” he said.

The ranking proves that a product can sell itself, Kevin added.
As a result, VLS is bidding for a defense contract.
The chances are good, according to Kevin. The company the Department of Defense ranked second in mapping capability does
not have a commercial product and the international company that ranked first, ERDAS Imagine, is negotiating with VLS for a
business partnership on the endeavor, he said.

“We feel very confident in three to five years, we could be generating within anywhere from $15 to $25 million in sales,” Blundell
said. “We will position ourselves to start building a secure facility in Montana. We will position ourselves in adding employment.”

VLS demonstrates that Montana can compete in the high-tech industry with partnerships between the private and public sectors,
said Dave Gibson, the state’s chief business officer. Montana State University’s TechLink helped VLS gain grants from NASA during
development stages and apply for the contract with DOD. The governor’s office and the U.S. Congressional Delegation wrote letters
to the Pentagon raving about VLS, and the Small Business Administration has provided commercial advice.
Gibson said he hopes the state will continue to support the tech industry because the results could be considerable.

“I think the sky is kind of the limit,” Kevin said.
When VLS reaches its limit of expansion, Kevin, a Helena native, hopes the company doesn’t lose its “down-home flavor.”
VLS’ founders have a vision to keep the headquarters in Montana and hire Montana residents at wages competitive with national
companies, Kevin said.

David and Blundell hired their first employee in January and now have 12 people, he said. Between customers including the U.S.
Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management and commercial venders, VLS is making money enough to run smoothly, Kevin
said.

Reporter Christina Quinn can be reached at 447-4075.

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