diff --git a/samples/dynamodb-geo-ios/dynamodb-geo-ios/AWSConstants.m b/samples/dynamodb-geo-ios/dynamodb-geo-ios/AWSConstants.m
index a48e5ef..f0d2307 100644
--- a/samples/dynamodb-geo-ios/dynamodb-geo-ios/AWSConstants.m
+++ b/samples/dynamodb-geo-ios/dynamodb-geo-ios/AWSConstants.m
@@ -17,6 +17,12 @@
 
 NSString *const AWSElasticBeanstalkEndpoint = @"http://YOUR-ENVIRONMENT.elasticbeanstalk.com/dynamodb-geo";
 
+/*
+ * Use this instead to run on a local tomcat instance
+ */
+
+//NSString *const AWSElasticBeanstalkEndpoint = @"http://localhost:9090/dynamodb-geo";
+
 @implementation AWSConstants
 
 @end
diff --git a/samples/dynamodb-geo-server/pom.xml b/samples/dynamodb-geo-server/pom.xml
index dc3815a..b3f61b5 100644
--- a/samples/dynamodb-geo-server/pom.xml
+++ b/samples/dynamodb-geo-server/pom.xml
@@ -103,6 +103,34 @@
 						</webResources>
 					</configuration>
 				</plugin>
+				<plugin>
+					<groupId>org.apache.tomcat.maven</groupId>
+					<artifactId>tomcat7-maven-plugin</artifactId>
+					<version>2.2</version>
+					<configuration>
+						<!-- http port -->
+						<port>9090</port>
+						<!-- application path always starts with /-->
+						<path>/</path>
+						<!-- optional path to a context file -->
+						<contextFile>${tomcatContextXml}</contextFile>
+						<!-- optional system propoerties you want to add -->
+                        <systemProperties>
+							<AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID>XXXXXXXXX</AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID>
+							<AWS_SECRET_KEY>YYYYYYYYY</AWS_SECRET_KEY>
+							<PARAM1>geo-test</PARAM1>
+							<PARAM2>us-east-1</PARAM2>
+							<is_local>true</is_local>
+                        </systemProperties>
+						<!-- if you want to use test dependencies rather than only runtime -->
+						<useTestClasspath>false</useTestClasspath>
+						<!-- optional if you want to add some extra directories into the classloader -->
+						<additionalClasspathDirs>
+							<additionalClasspathDir></additionalClasspathDir>
+						</additionalClasspathDirs>
+					</configuration>
+
+				</plugin>
 			</plugins>
 		</pluginManagement>
 
@@ -120,6 +148,7 @@
 					</execution>
 				</executions>
 			</plugin>
+
 		</plugins>
 	</build>
 
diff --git a/samples/dynamodb-geo-server/src/main/java/com/amazonaws/geo/server/GeoDynamoDBServlet.java b/samples/dynamodb-geo-server/src/main/java/com/amazonaws/geo/server/GeoDynamoDBServlet.java
index a3e97ad..35b46ce 100644
--- a/samples/dynamodb-geo-server/src/main/java/com/amazonaws/geo/server/GeoDynamoDBServlet.java
+++ b/samples/dynamodb-geo-server/src/main/java/com/amazonaws/geo/server/GeoDynamoDBServlet.java
@@ -83,16 +83,21 @@ public void init() throws ServletException {
 	}
 
 	private void setupGeoDataManager() {
+		System.out.println("setup");
 		String accessKey = System.getProperty("AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID");
 		String secretKey = System.getProperty("AWS_SECRET_KEY");
 		String tableName = System.getProperty("PARAM1");
 		String regionName = System.getProperty("PARAM2");
-
 		AWSCredentials credentials = new BasicAWSCredentials(accessKey, secretKey);
+
 		AmazonDynamoDBClient ddb = new AmazonDynamoDBClient(credentials);
 		Region region = Region.getRegion(Regions.fromName(regionName));
 		ddb.setRegion(region);
 
+		if(System.getProperties().containsKey("is_local")) {
+			ddb.setEndpoint("http://localhost:8000");
+		}
+
 		config = new GeoDataManagerConfiguration(ddb, tableName);
 		geoDataManager = new GeoDataManager(config);
 	}
diff --git a/samples/dynamodb-geo-server/src/main/java/com/amazonaws/geo/server/util/Utilities.java b/samples/dynamodb-geo-server/src/main/java/com/amazonaws/geo/server/util/Utilities.java
index 3c174b7..34977fa 100644
--- a/samples/dynamodb-geo-server/src/main/java/com/amazonaws/geo/server/util/Utilities.java
+++ b/samples/dynamodb-geo-server/src/main/java/com/amazonaws/geo/server/util/Utilities.java
@@ -65,6 +65,10 @@ public boolean isRegionNameSet() {
 		return regionName != null && regionName.length() > 0;
 	}
 
+	public boolean isRunningLocal() {
+		return System.getProperties().containsKey("is_local");
+	}
+
 	public void setupTable() {
 		setupGeoDataManager();
 
@@ -98,6 +102,10 @@ private synchronized void setupGeoDataManager() {
 			AmazonDynamoDBClient ddb = new AmazonDynamoDBClient(credentials, clientConfiguration);
 			ddb.setRegion(region);
 
+			if(isRunningLocal()) {
+				ddb.setEndpoint("http://localhost:8000");
+			}
+
 			GeoDataManagerConfiguration config = new GeoDataManagerConfiguration(ddb, tableName);
 			geoDataManager = new GeoDataManager(config);
 		}