SET IN (PAVE)STONE

A flick of a switch, probably today, will put the machinery in motion to start production of concrete paving stones here, said Paul Kelley, general manager of the Pavestone operation.

Located at 2720 East Outer Road in Seven-Thirty Industrial Park near Cape Girardeau, Pavestone Inc. is a leader in the nation's landscape stone product industry and the largest producer of interlocking concrete paving stones and retaining walls.

With headquarters in Dallas, the company has 16 manufacturing facilities, a workforce of more than 800 and sales of more than $200 million a year.

"Pavestone is a fast growing industry," said Kelley, who operated his own block-making company before joining Pavestone four months ago. A recent industry survey indicates that consumption of interlocking concrete paving stones exceed more than 250 million square feet a year.

Interlocking stones is just one of Pavestone's products.

"We produce all types of concrete stones," said Kelley. They range from very small, to 16-inch squares, rectangles and round stones.

The company also produces larger stones -- 40 to 48 pounds -- for botanical gardens. Also on the product list are concrete benches, picnic tables, planters, trash receptacles and urns.

The operation here is almost all automatic and will employ about 40 persons to start.

"That figure can go to about 100," said plant manager Ed Boudreaux, who has been with the company three years, and comes here from a plant at Lafayette, La.

The company will employ plant electricians, maintenance mechanics, sales representatives, administrative, warehouse and yard personnel, Boudreaux said.

The local operation, which includes the 30,000-square-foot plant and three silos, will create some heavy truck activity in the area. The silos hold gray cement, white cement and filler.

Boudreaux said when the plant gets going, they'll be turning out 100 flatbed truckloads between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. each day.

"Some days, we may load out as many as 150 to 175 trucks," he said.

Lone Star to benefit

Add in other trucks hauling in supplies and raw materials, and the truck traffic may grow to as many as 275 trucks a day.

"We like to utilize local products as much as we can," said Kelly. "We'll be buying as much as 47,000 tons of cement annually from Lone Star. And we're in the process of buying 125,000 to 150,000 wood pallets, all locally."

The U.S. boom in concrete landscape units began in the 1970s, with interlocking concrete paving stones emerging in the engineered paving markets and residential applications. Specifiers and consumers were catching on to a paving alternative that had been commercialized in Canada and was mainstream practice in Western Europe.

The local facility will have an official grand opening in July, said Kelly.

"We'll have some Pavestone officials down, and hold a two-day festival, with tours of the plant."

The tours will include demonstrations of the state-of-the-art production and material-handling equipment.

"We'll also have displays of Pavestone's concrete landscaping products," said Kelly.

PAVESTONE TIMELINE

1980: Company breaks ground on Dallas, Texas Plant

1986: Company opens Phoenix Plant

1987: Company expands its Dallas and Phoenix plants to accommodate the increased commercial| demand for Pavestone products.

1991: Signs initial deal with Home Depot

1992: Establishes Contractor Vendor Division and separately signs deal with Payless Cashways

1993: Opens sales branch in Colorado, and begins converting plants to automated MASA machines.

1994: Purchases assets of Barbour Pavers located in Kansas City, Missouri

1995: Acquires Interpave located in Cincinnati, Ohio, breaks ground on three new plants, and secures Symetry license for all Pavestone plants

1996: Three new plants in Houston, Cincinnati and Denver are fully operational and retail outlet count exceeds 700

1997: Acquires assets from Tri-Delta in Las Vegas and becomes the largest producer in North America.

1998: Expands capacity of Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver, Houston and Kansas plants. New Orleans and Las Vegas plants badded.

1999: Establishes plants in San Antonio and Chattanooga and acquires White's Concrete and Pottery, LP.

2000: Pavestone California L.L.C. is created with the merger of Pavestone Company with Hokanson Building Block Company of Sacramento, California.

2000: Pavestone officially opens state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in San Marcos, Texas

2001: Pavestone opens facility in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Today (May 21) 2001: Pavestone officially opens state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Cape Girardeau.