News Summary

BEAVERCREEK TWP. — Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Cornerstone Research Group and others are welcoming a delegation from Poland today.

The group of Polish commerce leaders, along with Victor Ashe, U.S. ambassador to Poland, visited the base and engineering firm Cornerstone on Thursday morning. Scheduled for this afternoon was a lunch hosted by Edison Materials Technology Center (EMTEC) at Kettering Health Network's corporate headquarters.

Wright-Patterson is home to the Aeronautical Systems Center and the Air Force Security Assistance Center, which manage the "Poland Peace Sky" program — essentially, the sale of 48 F-16s to Poland, which is a member of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Ashe said 32 of the fighters have already been delivered.

EMTEC also recommended that Ashe and his delegation visit Cornerstone, a 100-employee firm which develops materials and technologies for working with those materials. Polish business leaders are always on the lookout for ties to American companies, said John McCaslin, commercial counselor for the American embassy to Poland.

In a brief interview after touring Cornerstone, Ashe said Poland is a "integral and pivotal member of NATO" which is "seeking to upgrade, modern and westernize its Air Force."

Having the F-16s, Ashe added, puts Poland in the "vanguard of modern aviation."

The delegation has visited Cincinnati, Portland, Ore. and is set to go to Boston tonight.

Ernie Havens, vice president, business development for Cornerstone, said his company is Ohio's largest employer of interns in engineering, with 30 to 40 college students on staff at any time. The company, which saw $6.9 million in sales last year, has averaged 48 percent annual revenue growth in the last ten years, Havens said.

"That young (employee) age also helps us to be innovative," said Havens, 37, who has been with Cornerstone for a decade.