What Sandman Structural Engineers does

Sandman Structural Engineers (SSE) is a US structural engineering consulting firm headquartered in Moorhead, Minnesota, founded in 2005 by Kurt Sandman, PE, P.Eng, and operating additional offices in Maple Grove (Minneapolis) and Baxter (Brainerd). The firm provides structural design, analysis, and construction coordination services across three practice areas—Commercial (educational, entertainment, financial, healthcare, mission-critical, office, religious, retail), Hospitality & Housing (hotels, mixed-use, modular, multi-family, senior living, student housing), and Industrial Services (agricultural, electrical power, infrastructure, specialty aluminum, specialty steel, warehouse)—extended in 2025 by the acquisition of Mattson Macdonald Young (MMY) to include historic preservation and adaptive-reuse design.

SSE is staffed by 80+ professionals organized around Practice Area Leaders and Team Leaders with PE credentials, and is registered to practice in all 50 US states, the District of Columbia, and 5 Canadian provinces. Its customer base includes architects (BRR Architecture, YHR Partners), developers (Enclave Companies), contractors (Mindak Commercial Construction), engineering consultants (Nexus Solutions), and end-clients across logistics (Amazon Logistics, FedEx), retail (Scheels), and healthcare (Rapid City Regional Hospital). The firm converted to 100% employee ownership through an ESOP in 2024 and has run an internal 'Sandman University' development program alongside the integration of MMY's team.

Revenue is generated through project-based professional services engagements—primarily fixed-scope or time-and-materials structural engineering consulting—priced per project rather than per seat, with all distribution handled via direct enterprise field sales and project referrals. Inputs are PE-credentialed labor and structural analysis/drafting tooling; no AI/ML or software product surface is disclosed. The company is privately held, with no parent, no public funding rounds, and no disclosed revenue.

Name

Sandman Structural Engineers

Legal name

Sandman Structural Engineers

Website

https://sandmanse.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Sandman Structural Engineers is a privately held, 100% employee-owned US structural engineering consulting firm founded in 2005 and based in Moorhead, Minnesota, with offices in Minneapolis and Brainerd, serving architects, developers, contractors, and owners across Commercial, Hospitality & Housing, and Industrial Services sectors nationwide and in Canada.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Structural Engineering Services

NAICS

Engineering Services (541330), Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services (5413)

SIC

Services-Engineering Services (8711)

akta.pro primary industry

Construction Engineering & Constructability Consulting (BPAHAIAN)

Keywords

• Structural engineering consulting
• Structural design services
• Construction engineering
• Precast concrete engineering
• Historic preservation engineering

Headquarters

HQ city

Moorhead

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Structural Engineering Consulting Services: Professional engineering services provided on a project basis to architects, developers, contractors, fabricators, and owners. Revenue is generated through consulting fees for structural design, analysis, and construction coordination across commercial, hospitality, housing, and industrial projects.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Sandman Structural Engineers is a professional structural engineering consulting firm providing structural design, analysis, inspection, and construction coordination for building projects. It serves architects, developers, contractors, fabricators, and owners across commercial, hospitality & housing, and industrial sectors on a project-fee basis.

Product overview

Sandman Structural Engineers is a structural engineering consulting firm offering services through three integrated practice areas: Commercial (covering educational, entertainment, financial, healthcare, office, religious, retail, and mission critical facilities), Hospitality & Housing (including hotels, mixed-use, modular construction, multi-family, residential, senior living, and student housing), and Industrial Services (encompassing agricultural, electrical power, industry, infrastructure, specialty aluminum, specialty steel, and warehouse projects). The company operates as a single unified service offering with geographic expansion through its acquisition of Mattson Macdonald Young in 2025, which added historic preservation and adaptive-reuse design capabilities to the portfolio.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Structural Engineering Consulting Services Full-service structural engineering consulting providing structural design, analysis, and construction coordination for commercial, hospitality, housing, and industrial projects across North America. Serves architects, developers, contractors, fabricators, and owners.
• Commercial Practice Area Structural engineering services covering educational, entertainment, financial, healthcare, mission critical facilities, office, religious, and retail building projects for owners, developers, and architects.
• Hospitality & Housing Practice Area Structural engineering services for hotels, mixed-use developments, modular construction, multi-family residential, senior living, and student housing projects.
• Industrial Services Practice Area Structural engineering solutions for agricultural, electrical power, industrial, infrastructure, specialty aluminum, specialty steel, and warehouse projects.

Quantifiable outcome

• Lower project and construction costs on numerous projects and programs through design optimization
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Mattson Macdonald Young (MMY)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSandman Structural Engineers acquired Mattson Macdonald Young, a Minneapolis-based structural engineering firm founded in 1983. MMY brings expertise in Multi-Family Housing, Commercial, Industrial, and Historic Preservation/Restoration sectors. This acquisition expands SSE's presence in Minnesota and adds historic preservation capabilities including National Register of Historic Places buildings and adaptive-reuse design. MMY team members including Stephanie Young, Ken Green, Matt Hogen, and David Hedberg joined SSE.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Magnusson Klemencic Associates: Seattle-headquartered structural and civil engineering consulting firm serving commercial, healthcare, hospitality, and large-scale infrastructure projects across North America. Directly comparable to Sandman in service mix and project-based B2B delivery model, but at materially larger scale with national mega-project reach.
• Walter P Moore: National structural engineering, diagnostics, and civil engineering consultancy with deep commercial, healthcare, sports, and cultural facility portfolios. Closely comparable practice mix to Sandman across Commercial and Hospitality/Housing, with a larger national footprint and strong sports-venue specialization.
• Martin/Martin Consulting Engineers: Denver-based structural engineering firm serving commercial, healthcare, hospitality, and industrial clients in the Western US. Directly comparable mid-size structural consulting peer with a similar project-based, multi-sector service offering and a comparable regional-headquarters growth trajectory.
• KPFF Consulting Engineers: Large national structural and civil engineering firm with offices across the US, serving commercial, healthcare, transportation, and industrial markets. Directly comparable in core structural engineering services and B2B project model, though significantly larger and with a broader civil/waterfront practice.
• Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates (WJE): National engineering firm specializing in structural evaluation, historic preservation, and repair/restoration design — the closest direct analog to Sandman's MMY-acquired historic-preservation practice. Comparable in deep specialty expertise but with a nationwide forensics and restoration footprint.
• Simpson Gumpertz & Heger (SGH): National engineering firm providing structural design, building enclosure, and structural investigation services across commercial, healthcare, and infrastructure markets. Directly comparable in structural engineering core, with stronger historic-preservation and investigation breadth.
• DeSimone Consulting Engineers: Multi-office structural engineering consultancy serving commercial, hospitality, healthcare, and high-rise residential clients. Highly comparable practice mix to Sandman's Commercial and Hospitality & Housing sectors, with greater presence on the East Coast.
• Ruby+Associates: Structural engineering firm focused on steel-intensive commercial, industrial, and specialty structures — closely comparable to Sandman's Industrial Services and specialty metals practice area. Similar mid-size scale with deep steel-fabricator relationships.

Broad incumbents

• Thornton Tomasetti: Global engineering consultancy with deep structural engineering, forensics, and sustainability practices serving large commercial, sports, and infrastructure clients. Overlaps with Sandman's core structural consulting but operates at a substantially larger scale with a much broader service portfolio.
• ARUP: Global engineering consultancy with substantial structural engineering practice across commercial, hospitality, industrial, and infrastructure sectors. Overlaps significantly with Sandman's service offering but operates at much greater scale, geographic breadth, and design-build capability.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/SandmanSE
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sandman-consulting-pc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sandman Structural Engineers