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When Flexahopper Plastics Ltd. expanded its new home in the Sherring Industrial Park five years ago, president and owner Bill Spenceley wanted energy conservation built into the renovation. The first shop, a cramped, wooden building beside the Lethbridge Airport, bears little resemblance to the current one, an innovative, energy-efficient factory at the forefront of the rotational moulding industry.

“We’ve really brought down our environmental footprint,” he says. “We were at 1990s levels of CO2 in 2007, but we were six times the size we were in 1997.”

Now employing 42 people, plus five in Vancouver, Flexahopper has progressed from the fledging plant that began in 1967 producing the flexahopper, its trademark grain hopper. Plenty of flexahoppers remain on the manufacturing floor, but today Flexahopper also produces insulated and pressure vessels, OEM products, chemical storage and technical moulding for agriculture, food processing, aerospace and consumer markets worldwide.

Spenceley’s father joined the company in 1973, and later bought in as a partner before father and son purchased the remaining shares. “I came to the business as an engineer,” says Spenceley, who earned a degree in chemistry from the University of Lethbridge and completed his chemical engineering studies at the University of Alberta.

He continues to live in his hometown, but he’s often on the road in search of new ideas. He has discovered innovative processes in countries as far away as India, New Zealand, Australia, Austria and South Africa, and he’s not afraid to implement his overseas finds.

“Always ask, ‘why are you doing it this way?’ Get out of your comfort zone and try some new things,” he advises.

“Future-proofing” the shop was an exercise in getting out of the comfort zone, but it was driven by the need for more space. Energy-efficient efforts include using the exhaust from giant rotational ovens that cook moulded plastic to heat the water used in the hot water heating system and cutting lighting costs by installing skylights above the shop floor. Flexahopper purchases wind-generated power from Bullfrog Power. Its latest initiative is recycling plastics left over from production.

Spenceley doesn’t take all the credit for Flexahopper’s sustainable practices, saying that the people working with the company are actively pursuing ways to reduce waste, contributing to its energy goals and its bottom line.

“You need an engaged workforce. The people making money for you are on the frontline. In turn the employees need to be empowered so they can stop production if they see something wrong.” He holds meetings with his entire staff and sends them to conferences, so they return “totally pumped with fresh ideas and asking questions.”

Spenceley and his staff aren’t afraid to take risks either. At the peak of the recession, while competitors cut expenses and reduced inventory, Flexahopper upgraded equipment, increased production capacity and stepped up research and development. The gamble paid off.

“A lot of companies in our industry are still in restraint. But last year, our sales were up 14 per cent, while the industry’s dropped 25 per cent.”

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