*Discoveries/ Struggles regarding.gdb to .shp file conversion:
** Esri Production Mapping (costly)
*** License needs to be purchasesd: http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/extensions/production-mapping/pricing
** Use ogr2ogr from gdal package
*** Command: ogr2ogr -f "ESRI Shapefile" [Destination of shapefile] [path to gdb file]