Entrepreneur’s Paving the Way to Own Success : Larry Green is convinced that his durable, interlocking stones one day will be as common as concrete.

For Larry Green, the phrase “everything old is new again,” seems especially apt.

Not only did the 37-year-old entrepreneur leave behind his paving company in South Africa to start a similar business in Newport Beach, but each day he helps replace the concrete and asphalt in Orange County with an interlocking paving method once used by the Romans.

“If anything, what I’m doing now is starting all over again. When people ask me what I do here, I have to make this whole explanation because they don’t understand the product yet,” he said.

Green is convinced, however, that one day his product--interlocking paving stones--will be as common as concrete. His Systems Paving Inc., not yet a year old, has already completed about $2 million worth of projects--paving driveways, patios and pool areas with stones of all colors.

Green predicts that future street and home improvements in the county, plus the proposed $3-billion Disneyland expansion, will be a boon for the product, which is starting to catch on in the United States after becoming popular in Europe and Australia.

Interlocking paving stones are more durable than regular concrete or asphalt roadways, and Green said they cost governments less over the long haul. While used widely in Europe, the stones have been slow sellers so far in California.

Modeled after a technique used in ancient Rome, the stones are stamped into a special base with a machine, and then fine sand is used to fill the voids in the joints between the stones. The interlocking concrete stones behave as a flexible pavement that resists cracking from minor earthquakes or hot and cold temperatures. Green guarantees each job with a lifetime warranty that the pavement will never crack, unless something extraordinary occurs, such as a major earthquake.

There are four major manufacturers of concrete block products in Southern California: Angelus Block Co. in Orange, Orco Block Co. in Stanton, Acker-Stone Industries, with major operations in Corona, and Olson Paving in San Juan Capistrano. Orco and Angelus have teamed up in a partnership called Perma Concrete Co. in Moreno Valley, which supplies stones to Systems Paving.

“I came here because I was encouraged by the building block industry out here. I had considered moving to Florida, but Orange County was a bigger challenge. The growth opportunity was amazing,” he said. “South Africa has been in a recession for the past five years, with no light at the end of the tunnel. Although my company was doing OK, there was very little growth.”

Green said his move was also prompted by “personal reasons,” because he didn’t want his young children, ages 10 and 6, growing up in what he called “an increasing level of violence” in South Africa.

However, Green said his experience in Africa makes him more than able to run a business in the Southern California recession.

“South African businessmen who still have their businesses intact know how to operate under leaner and meaner standards,” Green said. “It’s good training to operate a business in recessionary times. The first time I came to the United States, it looked like the land of plenty, where nothing ever ran out and all anyone did was spend, spend, spend.”

A Johannesburg native, Green dropped out of college and began selling home improvement products. By 1978, he had started his own company called South Africa Paving. Among his customers was the Johannesburg Zoo, for which the company designed a large parking lot featuring bright stone designs of animals, such as elephants and monkeys.

Green is quick to point out that he has since sold his stake in that company and severed all ties with South Africa.

Several Orange County residents who have tried Systems Paving’s interlocking paving stones said they were pleased with the results. A two-car driveway costs $3,000 to $5,000.

“I just liked the looks of it,” said Charles Reed of Huntington Beach who, along with a neighbor, had his driveway paved with interlocking stones.

Paula Manas, of Laguna Niguel, said she used the paving stones on her patio and is now considering having her driveway paved.

“My husband fought me on it,” Manas said. “He wanted the concrete with the brick borders, but we have a lot of expansive soil in this area and the interlocking stones can expand and contract.”