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    Complex Permitting Environments Are Where We Do Our Best Work.

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    Since 1984, Sunde Engineering has built its practice around the Midwest, which is one of the most complex regulatory environments in the country. Developers, industrial owners, aggregate mine operators, and the professionals who work alongside them have relied on our civil engineering and environmental expertise for over four decades. 

    The Midwest's permitting environment doesn't leave room for firms that are learning it on the project. Every watershed district, every agency review, and every multi-jurisdictional approval has its own requirements. Since 1984, Sunde Engineering has been a trusted partner to our clients, providing expert civil engineering and environmental consulting that moves their projects forward with confidence.  

    Four decades of work. One consistent focus: helping clients build in the Midwest.

    Our Story
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    The 1980s

    Where It Started

    After working for over nine years with government agencies and a private consulting engineering firm, Gerald M. Sunde established his own practice in 1972. That practice grew steadily, and in 1984 he established Sunde Engineering, locating the company's main offices in Bloomington, Minnesota.

    Sunde Engineering was founded to solve a specific problem: businesses and organizations across the Midwest needed an engineering firm that actually knew their regulatory environment and treated their projects with the urgency they deserved. From day one, that focus on delivering results for clients has defined how we work.

    • Founded 1984, Bloomington, MN
    • Civil engineering and site development services established
    • Core practice built with client-focused approach to civil engineering in and around Minneapolis

    The 1990s

    Deepening the Expertise

    Through the 1990s, Sunde Engineering expanded its capabilities and its client base, adding environmental consulting and water resource planning to a growing civil engineering practice.

    Working through thousands of projects, the team built deep, hands-on experience with Minnesota's watershed regulations, MPCA standards, DNR requirements, and MnDOT permitting, developing the process knowledge that allows Sunde Engineering to prepare submissions that move through complex multi-agency review with fewer surprises.

    • Environmental services practice established
    • Water resource and stormwater permitting expertise developed
    • Process knowledge and experience with MnDOT, MPCA, DNR, and watershed districts deepened

    The 2000s–2010s

    Expanding the Region

    Over two decades of sustained growth, Sunde Engineering extended its practice across the Midwest by taking on increasingly complex permitting work, expanding its aggregate mining and environmental specialty, and building a repeat-client base that reflected the firm's track record of delivering results. 

    • Aggregate mine permitting specialty established and expanded
    • Multi-state licensure expanded to serve clients across the Midwest
    • Thousands of commercial, aggregate mining, and community projects completed across the region

    Today

    Built for What's Next

    Today, Sunde Engineering is a 40+ year firm built on the same commitment it was founded on. We are a growing team investing in its long-term future, adding capacity, deepening expertise, and expanding our regional presence to serve the next generation of clients across the Midwest.

    • Committed to long-term firm growth
    • Actively seeking additional engineers across civil and environmental disciplines
    • Serving developers, industrial operators, aggregate mining companies and the professionals who work alongside them across the Midwest

    Forty years of work shapes a firm. Here's what we stand for.

    Mission & Vision

    Mission

    To help clients across the Midwest navigate complex permitting environments and move forward with confidence. To build a firm where deep regional expertise is earned, shared, and carried forward — by a team that is as invested in the work as the clients we serve. This is how we sustain what we've built, and how we ensure the next generation of Sunde engineers is ready to meet the next generation of challenges.

    Vision

    To be the most trusted civil and environmental engineering partner for developers, owners, and operators across the Midwest — the firm clients call first, refer most, and rely on across every stage of a project. To sustain that standard by investing in the people, expertise, and institutional knowledge that will carry it forward long after the projects of today are complete.

    Regional Depth Over Broad Reach

    We know the Midwest region — its regulations, its watershed districts, its agencies, and its markets. We've built our practice around this region deliberately — not spread across fifty states — because depth of regional knowledge is what actually protects a client's project. A partner whose expertise runs deep is worth more than one whose footprint runs wide. 

    Accountability to the Schedule

    Permitting delays have real financial consequences for our clients. We take that seriously. We pursue every approval with urgency, communicate proactively when conditions change, and measure our success by how well we keep our clients informed and moving forward. 

    Integrated Expertise, Honest Scope.

    Civil and environmental under one roof means fewer gaps, fewer hand-offs, and cleaner project delivery. We tell clients what's in scope, what isn't, and what they should anticipate — because surprises in engineering are expensive.

    Built for the Long Term

    We're not optimizing for a single project. We're building relationships that span decades — with a team that stays, grows, and deepens its expertise over time. Over 90% of our clients are repeat customers. Our clients' most important measure of us is whether they call us again. Most do.

    These aren't aspirations. They're the principles that have shaped how we work for over four decades.

    Values

    Sunde's engineering and geoscience staff hold active professional licensure across the Midwest

    Our Qualifications

    Professional
    Engineer (PE)

    Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa, Illinois, Ohio,
    Montana, Wisconsin, North Dakota,
    South Dakota, Pennsylvania

    Professional
    Geologist (PG)

    Minnesota

    Engineering Firms Are Only as Good as Their People

    Meet the Team
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    Mike Kettler

    Professional Engineer, Civil Engineering,MN, MI, IA

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    Brian Mundstock

    Professional Engineer, Civil Engineering, MN, WI, MI, ND, OH, PA, MT, SD

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    Kirsten Pauly

    Professional Engineer, Civil Engineering, MN,WI
    Licensed Professional Geologist, MN

    Join Our Growing Team

    Sunde Engineering is expanding our team of civil and environmental engineers across the Midwest. We're looking for professionals who want to build deep regional expertise, focus on private-sector clients, and be part of a firm with four decades of history, and a future we're still building. 

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