Sanbell

10/21/2026

Last Thursday, Sanbell Senior Project Planner Ian Faulds spoke at Permit Barriers to Middle Housing, a symposium at Seattle University on why middle-income housing projects in Washington keep stalling in permit review. Ian brought more than 12 years of land-use permitting experience to the conversation.

Helping communities find workable paths to the housing they need is work our team cares about deeply, and we're always glad for a seat at the table when these conversations happen. Thank you to Donna Breske & Associates for the invitation and for organizing the day, and to everyone who attended and joined the discussion!

10/15/2026

Please join us in welcoming Alyssa Rodriguez, PE, PTOE, as Managing Principal of our Nevada Business Unit!

Alyssa, based out of our Las Vegas satellite office, will lead our Elko and Reno teams, helping to grow client relationships across the Silver State, and will join Sanbell's Leadership Team in guiding the firm's future. She has spent most of her career serving Nevada communities, most recently as Assistant City Manager for the City of Henderson. Alyssa has also led as City Traffic Engineer, Assistant Director of Public Works, and Director of Information Technology, guiding work that ranged from signal operations to Smart City initiatives.

"I've spent my career working for the people of Nevada, and joining Sanbell expands my reach and resources. I'm excited to build on the strong work our Elko and Reno teams are already doing and to help our clients turn their goals into projects their communities are proud of."

Alyssa Rodriguez, PE, PTOE, Managing Principal

Welcome to the team, Alyssa!

Learn more: https://loom.ly/R_QRuIE

10/13/2026

Conference season is in full swing! Our Ventura team recently joined housing leaders at the Ventura County Housing Opportunities Made Easier (HOME) Conference to talk about getting more homes built across the region. This is one of our favorite times of year, when we get to reconnect with longtime partners and meet new faces along the way.

We're proud to be a part of so many cool organizations and professional associations that inspire and support our industry! More events are on the calendar this fall, (we'll be in California, Nevada, Montana communities.... and the list keeps growing). We'll keep you posted!

10/08/2026

What if the 'middle' is the best place to be?

Most of our industry assumes the winners are either nimble boutiques or deep-pocketed giants, and everyone in between gets written off as being in the proverbial "no man's land." Our CEO Michael Sanderson sees it very differently, and his take in the latest Zweig Letter might surprise you. (Hint: it involves really long hallways.)

Check it out!!! https://loom.ly/_M5iFiA

How mid-sized architecture and engineering firms combine scale, stronger resources, personal relationships & faster ex*****on to create a competitive advantage.

10/06/2026

Head over to Helena!
The Sanbell team will be at Booth 6 in the Natatorium for the Montana League of Cities and Towns' 95th Annual Conference for the next couple days (October 7 to 9).

This year's theme is Local Stories, and with the Montana 250th Commission's Chris Averill giving the keynote... and it's definitely a fitting moment to talk about where your town has been and where it's headed. Whether you're weighing a street redesign, an aging water system, or a downtown plan that deserves a second look, stop by and tell us YOUR story!

🔗 https://loom.ly/Gw4I8ng

10/01/2026

John Halverson, LEED AP BD+C - just passed his AICP exam!!

The American Institute of Certified Planners credential is definitely the gold standard in this profession, and getting there is no small thing. Planners need years of professional experience just to qualify, plus a written case showing how that work meets APA's standards; after all of that comes a three-and-a-half-hour exam that only 65% of test-takers pass!

We're super proud of you… what a big deal. Congratulations, John!

09/25/2026

The work week is winding down, and Jim McCoskey decided to treat us all to a little dance party! Not only do we have a team of amazing CAD drafters, at least one is a very talented choreographer😊... Great communities are built by people who enjoy what they do (and who they do it with). Happy Friday from the Sanbell team!

09/22/2026

Once upon a time, a railroad carried travelers straight to Yellowstone's doorstep. Now that same route is finding new life as a trail, and we've had the joy of helping write its next chapter.

The Yellowstone Heritage Trail winds through Paradise Valley along a corridor rich with more than 12,600 years of Indigenous history and ties to 27 Tribal Nations. It also belongs to something much bigger: the Great American Rail Trail, a coast-to-coast route running from Washington, D.C. all the way to Washington State. There was a puzzle to solve first, though: the old railbed had scattered into 53 separate ownerships over the years. Bringing it back into one continuous path took patient research and 300-plus neighbors sharing what they hoped to see.

The happy ending is already taking shape near Emigrant, where the first three miles are under construction, a pedestrian bridge rising over the Park Branch Canal. And this is only the beginning... with plenty more trail on the way!

09/15/2026

Four of our own took on The Rut at Big Sky this weekend, and they crushed it!

Huge congrats to Dylan Eve, Lilly Murphy, Madison Basile, and Jim Hanson for completing 35 miles and 8,500 vertical feet of some of the rawest, most scenic, and steepest country Montana has to offer. We're so proud of you! These four are CSTP out in the wild!!

09/10/2026

It's September aka Read a New Book Month, and in fact, we just wrapped our summer read at Sanbell (and this one earned a top grade!). Fire and Brimstone by Michael Punke pulls you into the 1917 North Butte mining disaster, the worst of its kind in American history. Punke (yes, the one who wrote The Revenant) gives you some fascinating engineering and some serious heartbreak in equal measure.

Now it's your turn! Drop your best recommendation in the comments, whether it's a novel you couldn't put down or a business book that changed your perspective or approach day.