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August 21, 2026
Akro-Mils, a plastic bin manufacturer in Wadsworth, Ohio, is known for making high-quality products.
But the company measures success by more than what it produces. With about 185 employees, Akro-Mils is committed to being a positive force in the community, and it starts with energy efficiency. By making its manufacturing process more efficient, the company helps reduce demand on the electric grid. That keeps electricity rates down for the whole community.
“We don’t want to be just okay at conserving energy,” says Chip Tierney, the plant manager. “We want to be the best.”
That mindset has paid off. Since 2011, Akro-Mils has partnered with Efficiency Smart® to make efficiency improvements throughout the plant. Now, it’s saving more than $285,000 a year in operating costs, even as production grows.
Energy efficiency isn’t just a one-time initiative at Akro-Mils, which is owned by Akron-based Myers Industries. Over time, it has become part of the company culture. “When new employees join, energy efficiency is one of the first things they’re trained on and expected to embrace,” Tierney says. All-company meetings include discussions about efficiency, continuous improvement, and how employees can contribute to Akro-Mils’s success.
The strength and ease of the relationship with Efficiency Smart also help to drive continuous improvement. Tierney is in near-constant contact with his Efficiency Smart account manager, Bob Golden. The ongoing partnership helps bring fresh energy-saving ideas to the plant.
Tierney says the relationship works because it’s easy, honest, and collaborative. “They’re not trying to sell usanything,” he says. “Working with Efficiency Smart is enjoyable and rewarding.”
To save energy, a company first must understand how it uses energy. Tierney and Efficiency Smart’s technical team worked together to measure electricity usage across the plant, from lighting to specialty machinery. “If it uses electricity and you can measure it, you can improve it,” Golden says.
One of the earliest wins was upgrading to LED lighting and installing sensors so lights turn off when spaces aren’t in use. These improvements reduced electricity waste without affecting daily operations or spending a lot of money. Just as important, they inspired plant management to look for more energy improvements.
Injection-molding machines are some of the top energy users in the plant. Efficiency Smart helped analyze the energy and cost savings of replacing this equipment over time, helping make the capital investment in new machinery more achievable. By investing in more efficient machines with variable frequency drives (VFDs), the company will save almost $2 million in energy costs over the lifetime of the equipment—a significant return on investment.
Not all energy-saving projects require such a big upfront investment. The team added insulation blankets to the injection molders, which help prevent heat loss. “The payoff was high, and the effort was low,” Tierney says.
Throughout these energy-saving projects, the Efficiency Smart team has provided objective advice and technical support. They have helped review vendor proposals, connected Tierney with outside experts, and produced reports showing the plant’s energy and cost savings over time. “I love being able to pull up the reports and show the boss what’s happening,” Tierney says.
One of Akro-Mils’s biggest achievements is keeping electricity usage flat even as the business has grown, which requires ongoing attention and effort by plant operations. One way Akro-Mils accomplishes this is by reducing energy use during high-demand times, such as hot summer afternoons.
The benefits of being energy-wise extend beyond the bottom line. By carefully managing its energy use, Akro Mils is reducing demand on the electric grid and helping to keep system costs down. That allows the local utility, Wadsworth Electric Department, to keep rates lower for everyone, like the neighborhood down the street and the local school.
Tierney hopes Akro-Mils can serve as a resource for other facilities pursuing similar energy-efficiency goals. He sees opportunities to share his knowledge in support of sustainability efforts at other companies, including across Myers Industries.
In the meantime, he’s spreading the word about the benefits of energy efficiency. “I try to broadcast our work with Efficiency Smart because it’s a big deal and it’s not hard to do,” he says.
The City of Wadsworth is one of the municipal electric utilities that takes advantage of the Efficiency Smart program to lower energy usage for commercial and residential customers.
Since 2011, Efficiency Smart has helped residents and businesses use less energy and save money in more than 65 communities in four states. For more on how your business or community can engage, see:
Or, please contact us to learn more about municipal subscriptions.
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