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Composite Advantage honored for innovation

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By Tim Tresslar, Staff Writer Updated 9:57 PM Tuesday, April 13, 2010

DAYTON — A local company that uses composite materials to make mats for the energy exploration industry and bridge decks received the Soin Award for Innovation on Tuesday, April 13.

Composite Advantage LLC was recognized with the award during the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual meeting at Sinclair Community College’s downtown campus.

Scott Reeve, one of Composite Advantage’s founders, says the company received the award for the composite mats it makes that act as foundations for oil and natural-gas rigs. Traditionally, the energy industry has used wood to make foundations underneath rigs positioned in remote areas, Reeves said.

The mats, which are sold through a Canadian distributor, present Composite Advantage’s biggest opportunity for growth in the near future, he said. Currently, they account for about 40 percent of the company’s revenue, but that amount is expected to reach 50 percent in the next year, he said.

Revenue growth will come mostly through the company expanding from just selling mats into also leasing them, Reeve said. This will require that the company produce an inventory of 500 mats earmarked for leasing, Reeve said.

The higher output could lead the 401 Kiser St. company to add 15 more employees this year, Reeve said.

The company was founded in 2005 at the National Composite Center, an incubator based in Kettering. Reeve said Andy Loff, Stuart Wright and Robert McNeil and he moved from NCC to the Kiser Street plant in 2007.

In other chamber business:

• During his remarks at the annual meeting, Martin Regalia, an economist with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, told the audience that consumption likely will grow between 2 percent and 3 percent .

Any growth in business investment likely will be small since the business world has nearly 30 percent of its production capacity idle and banks are reluctant to lend, he said.

• The chamber said it had a retention rate of 83 percent with its members and added another 330 new members last year.

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