Being the grandson of ELRUS founder Roland Russell makes being the national technical lead for the company a family affair. Although Spencer began working for the company when it opened its Saskatoon branch in 2013, he was introduced to the business at a far earlier age.
“Essentially growing up, I would spend every Saturday and Sunday with my grandfather,” Spencer recalls. “His idea of the weekend was being at the office. I was introduced and surrounded by our equipment at a very young age. It was always kind of in my blood through family, but it was introduced to me and sparked in me right out of the gate. It was a no-brainer.”
ELRUS CEO Carollyne Coulson recalls Spencer spending endless hours with his grandfather around the company’s shops and touring western Canada with him, going to conventions and customer sites.
“Spencer started working summer jobs focused on equipment environments about the age of 14,” Carollyne says. “This focused area of interest continued throughout school and his first job out of high school was working for Russell Redi-Mix, one of Canada’s premier contractors, where he got first-hand exposure to the challenges of the Canadian crushing environment. He started with ELRUS in our Saskatoon branch when it opened in 2013, under the mentorship of Jared Medlang, assisted by ELRUS’ most experienced mechanical guru, Brent Martens. Between Roland, Brent and Jared, Spencer has been mentored by real industry pros and he soaked it up, blending this into his natural curiosity and eye for all things mechanical.”
Spencer has gone on and became the first person to be factory trained by Sandvik in Sweden with the new certification standards.
He has been a key person and technical lead on some key projects for ELRUS, including most recently, the installation of three Sandvik CH660 500-hp cone crushers at the Martin Marietta installation in Wyoming, along with many other installations across Canada and the United States.
Spencer’s favourite aspects of the business are the opportunity to take things apart and solve problems, while creating great relationships with people in the industry.
“I’ve got a lot of close friends out of it,” he says.
Carollyne says his big energy, enthusiasm and genuine impulse to be of service to ELRUS’ customers, combined with his curiosity and mechanical savvy, bring a big contribution to the ELRUS team.
“Currently stationed in Calgary with the mechanical and technical services team, Spencer brings a well-rounded expertise and experience well beyond his years and balanced perspective to solving problems for our customers – including forays into product development, effective field service process solutions, and mechanical that is well needed in our industry,” she says.