dblake,
Thanks for your post!
With MapSuite you are not restricted to using TIGER Data; in fact Map Suite can work with any data in shapefile format.
As RenderUSA is designed to work with the TIGER Dataset's naming conventions and grouping of shapes, it would take some effort to customize RenderUSA for a different dataset. However, if you were able to group your data in the same fashion as the Tiger Data you would be able to use the majority of the original Render USA code.
ThinkGeo Support