29.04.2025 “Blooming Business” – an award winning project for nature
29.04.2025 “Blooming Business” – an award winning project for nature
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April 25, 2025, Töging. Exactly one year ago, Spangler GmbH was recognized by the Bavarian State Government as a “Blooming Business” – a visible sign of its commitment to ecological corporate management. Now, the Töging-based company takes stock and looks ahead to new projects in 2025.
“Actually, the goals of the Blooming Business project have guided us for much longer,” reports Managing Director Tina Lambert. Since 2019, Spangler has pursued the vision of designing the approximately 14,000 square meter company premises close to nature – with the aim of creating habitats for insects, birds, and small animals. Back then, the first natural area was created with great commitment. “As a regionally rooted company, it was clear to us: we want this recognition – for our employees, for the environment, and for our home,” says Lambert.
A long road to recognition
In the years that followed, Spangler implemented numerous measures: an insect hotel was built, flowering strips with regionally typical plants were created, and even a special sandpit for lizards was established. Since 2023, the site has also hosted two beehives maintained by a company employee. The honey produced there was distributed to customers and colleagues as a tasty and sustainable promotional gift.
Learning, even after the award
In 2024, the company’s efforts were finally rewarded – the “Blooming Business” award was officially presented.
But the company is not content with what has been achieved. “We see our previous steps as a beginning – not an end,” Lambert emphasizes. Important impulses also came from outside: Ralf Bundesmann from the Neumarkt County Landscape Conservation Association visited Spangler as part of a course on natural fruit tree pruning. He provided practical tips – for example, on how to properly equip the insect hotel. “Sharp-edged bricks can injure the wings of insects,” says Bundesmann. His recommendation: hardwood with holes drilled across the grain – a safer alternative.
Fruit tree pruning for old varieties
He also paid special attention to the approximately 50 fruit trees on the company premises. In a course, he shared valuable knowledge on the proper training cuts for old varieties. This not only improved the care of the trees but also raised ecological awareness within the company.
Plans for the future
Nature benefits not only animals and plants, but also the workforce. As part of the greening measures, the outdoor areas for employees were significantly upgraded: an outdoor meeting area, a barbecue corner, and pleasant staff areas now offer new quality of stay and promote well-being in the workplace.
Further measures are already planned for 2025: the existing hedges are to be supplemented with thorny shrubs to provide safe retreats for birds. The so-called “lizard castle” is to be expanded and optimized. And Spangler also wants to support native bird species – for the “Bird of the Year 2025”, the black redstart, special nesting boxes were acquired to create new breeding sites.
Long-term attractive working conditions
“Our overarching strategy is to create attractive working conditions in the long term,” Lambert concludes. “This of course includes modern and well-equipped workspaces indoors – but also a pleasant environment outdoors. We deliberately think across generations: what we create today should still exist tomorrow.”
With this holistic approach, Spangler also wants to continue contributing to combining ecological responsibility with business sustainability – and gradually transforming the company premises into a diverse habitat.
About Spangler:
SPANGLER Automation, based in Töging in the Altmühltal region, currently employs 150 people and has been a reliable partner in national and international machine and plant engineering for over 40 years. More than half of the produced systems are exported worldwide. This medium-sized family-owned company designs and plans plant automation, programs control technology, and manufactures control and switchgear systems for a wide range of industries: environmental technology, renewable energy, agriculture, construction, food, automotive, and raw materials. SPANGLER also handles the commissioning and after-sales service of the systems.
Ralf Bundesmann demonstrated proper pruning (513kB)
An employee takes care of the two bee colonies (587kB)
A lizard castle was built by apprentices (748kB)
The bees are a perfect fit for the Blooming Pact project (420kB)
The harvest was enjoyed as a tasty promotional item (356kB)
Blooming Pact Video (external link)