SPRINGBORO — Give companies in emerging arenas time to grow. Allow firms to move to different banks more easily. And never give up on worker training.

That was some of the advice Sen. Sherrod Brown heard this morning, Aug. 25, from a manufacturer fighting for a foothold in its own emerging field, Renegade Materials Corp.

Renegade — a producer of lightweight composite materials for the military and commercial aerospace markets — opened its 25,000 square foot facility in January 2008 off South Tech Boulevard and today has 15 employees.

But Eric Collins, Renegade chief executive, said the company’s materials recently qualified for production with an engine manufacturer, and the company is planning an expansion that will lead to a wider plant footprint and 160 jobs.

Renegade’s customers include General Electric and Pratt & Whitney, among others. But the company’s principals stressed that materials designed for military applications, such as the Joint Strike Fighter, may end up on commercial airplanes.

“We actually delivered product materials in July for the first time,” said Laura Gray, Renegade’s director of sales and marketing.

Among Renegade’s local employees are former Delphi and DMAX workers Shannon Smith and Christopher Hocker. Both men sang the praises of worker training efforts and state efforts to bring Renegade to the Dayton area. Renegade — which has a sister plant in Blue Ash — had benefitted from about $1 million in Ohio Third Frontier funding.

When Christina Howard, a vice president for entrepreneurial development for the Dayton Development Coalition, asked Brown to make it easier for small firms that have Small Business Administration loan guarantees to transfer those guarantees to new banks, Brown instructed a staff member to call her to learn more. Brown also quizzed Smith and Hocker on their careers.

Brown also planned to visit Xenia, Middletown and Cincinnati today. Gov. Ted Strickland was also going to be on hand in Middletown, for a brick laying ceremony at the Sun Coke plant there. And Strickland planned to visit a union job training program in Dayton.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2390 or tgnau@DaytonDailyNews.com.