Sunrise Engineering’s office in Cedar City, Utah is a hub of innovation and collaboration. Located in the heart of the city, the office is an inviting space that fosters a creative and productive work environment. With a team of experienced GIS technicians, natural gas designers, engineers, and support staff, the office is dedicated to providing exceptional service to clients across a range of industries.

History of the Cedar City Office

In 2007, Kevin Osguthorpe and Jarom Hlebasko graduated from Southern Utah University (SUU) with the same bachelor’s degree in engineering technology. Sunrise Engineering offered both of them a full-time position and the Cedar City office was born. Kevin was heavily involved with AutoCAD design for Southwest Gas, and Jarom had an immediate impact on our GIS services. The original office was located just behind SUU Head Start off Highway 56.

It took several years to hire another design drafter and GIS employee. With just two additional hires, we were at capacity for that office. As Kevin’s design group blossomed, our GIS team had the opportunity to also work with Southwest Gas mapping their natural gas assets in GIS. This required significant expansion and Clint Chappell joined Sunrise to lead the Southwest Gas mapping group.

In 2017 it was time to pursue additional office space with more room and capacity for not only filling GIS positions but planning for future design and engineering staff as well. We found a great location at 730 S. Cove Dr. on top of the hill towards the baseball fields. Initially, we leased half of the office space and expanded our employees from six to sixteen. We were bursting at the seams and soon negotiated the lease to include the entire building.

Cedar City Office Today

The Cedar City office has been in operation for 16 wonderful and prosperous years. Today, the office has 20 employees who work in the GIS, Natural Gas Design, Washington Civil, and Transportation service centers. Some of the biggest clients we serve from the Cedar City office include Southwest Gas, Cedar City, the City of Kingman, Enoch City, and UDOT. The Cedar City office is the main hub of GIS work performed throughout the company. Connected to the heartbeat of our GIS Service Center we have over 35 GIS team members residing in Las Vegas, Phoenix, Washington City, St. John’s (AZ), Kingman (AZ), Salt Lake City, Cache Valley, Vernal, Springville, Fillmore, as well as the state of Virginia.

“Our Cedar office staff has always been the pinnacle of quality. When you grow from six employees to 20 employees in the Cedar office, but also count the remote workers and other natural gas design/GIS employees that have stemmed from the Cedar office, it truly is a sight to behold. Our clients know what we are capable of, and the efforts show the benefits. Each employee is a hardworking and dedicated provider and rise-above-the-line kind of person that takes every challenge thrown at them and somehow develops better tools, creates more efficient workflows, and exhibits good people qualities! It’s no wonder why people like visiting the Cedar office!” says Jarom Hlebasko, GIS Team Lead.

The Cedar City office has some fun traditions and celebrations throughout the year including a summer office party, Christmas party, monthly desserts to celebrate birthdays, monthly lunches, and GIS Day. Some fun memories of the office include the Easter egg hunts outside the office, Halloween office/desk decoration and costume contests, Valentine’s box contests, Andy Pace Ghost Pepper Popcorn, ping-pong battles, and Simon Saw. Dustyn Shaffer, GIS Service Center Manager, added, “The diversity of our staff in Cedar City is really a fun part of the office. Whether that be the diversity of the work we perform or our individual backgrounds, there have been many fun experiences and opportunities that come from it.”

The goals of the Cedar City office include gaining more of an engineering presence and the expansion of employees. However, we may be reaching the point where the future growth of employees may not be possible without looking for a larger building. We currently have ten total offices, none of which are vacant, and 23 workspaces where only three are not occupied. It’s been a wild ride and a great stopping point for other Sunrise employees that travel the I-15 corridor.