THOMAS C. SETTLES- PRESIDENT/CEO- OMEGA GROUP OF COMPANIES-
Has more than 30 years of experience in business development, with specific emphasis in
the areas of development/management of government and private sector programs. He has
planned, managed and provided leadership in community-based corporations that focused
on upgrading the living standards of the community from an economic standpoint. In 1989,
in Atlanta, GA, Mr. Settles founded the first African American owned straw manufacturing company in America, Elite Paper
and Plastics Company, Inc. and served as Chief Executive Officer. Most recently Mr. Settles launched a new Paving and
Environmental Management Company. Beginning in 1974, Mr. Settles worked with various sales, community and
business development agencies. From April 1978 to August 1983, he was with the Hamilton County, Tennessee
Department of Economic Development, where he served as Director, President and General Partner in the consulting firm
of GAMA Associates, an urban consulting firm specializing in the development and counsel of minority businesses. -
Executive Director of the Alton Park Community Development Corporation, Chattanooga, Tennessee. For three
consecutive terms, Mr. Settles successfully managed the campaign for Representative C.B. Robinson (also chairman
Tennessee Black Caucus) and maintains active interest in the National Black Caucus of State Legislators. - Mr. Settles
was an Incorporating Board Member of the Dekalb County Chapter of the 100 Black Men of America, Incorporated. Mr.
Settles was elected state-wide to represent the State of Georgia at the 1995 White House Conference on Small Business
and served as Chairman of the Community and Economic Development Committee - at the National Conference in June
1995. Mr. Settles and eight (8) other entrepreneurs formed and became the organizing board and administration for the
Georgia Black Chamber of Commerce in December of 1996. Mr. Settles founded and established the Omega Group of
companies in 1999 to address the series of infrastructure challenges (roads, sewers, water, agricultural farms, etc.) that
face our municipalities in the US, the Caribbean and the continent of Africa. Mr. Settles received his Bachelor of Science
degree from Talladega College, Talladega, Alabama in 1974, and has done graduate work at Florida State University and
at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in the area of Program Planning, Development, Administration, Evaluation
and Training.
ROAD CONSTRUCTION PRODUCTS AND SOLUTIONS PZ-22X© – Soil Stabilization PZ-22X© is a unique soil
stabilization compound that has proven effective in Jamaica in light of recent devastation of Jamaica’s road
infrastructure from torrential storms in May-June 2002. The Caribbean Disaster Fund has estimate the damage to
Jamaica’s roads at a level of $1.3 billion dollars. PZ-22X© is also an organic, environmentally friendly liquid enzyme
formula that bonds soil and increases compaction, makes roads impervious to water and increases load-bearing
capacity while reducing the amount of aggregate and other material needed to construct the road. PZ-22X© makes
maximum use of native materials and reduces the amount of material that has to be trucked to the site.
Enzyme Can Make Dirt Roads Durable, Man Says
By Kristen Wyatt | Associated Press
Saturday, July 30, 2005
ATLANTA - Thomas Settles grew up on a dirt road in Edgefield, S.C., a road so crummy it washed out completely
after a heavy rain and he sometimes couldn't get to school. Summers were spent choking at the road's dust.
Mr. Settles, 53, owns a paving company in Atlanta and is on a mission to save poor Southerners from the
indignities he grew up with. He's out to make dirt roads as good as paved ones.
"Look at this," he says, holding up a plastic jug of molasses-looking brown stuff. "This is all it takes."
The brown stuff is an enzyme called PZ-22X that can toughen dirt roads and help them stand up better to rain.
He says it will be a blessing for rural communities that can't afford to pave all their roads.
Mr. Settles didn't invent the enzyme, but he bought the rights to it, christened it Pave-Zyme and is getting
permission across the Southeast to test it on dirt roads.
Mixed with water and sprayed on dirt, the Pave-Zyme acts as a sealing agent, making the dirt more impermeable
to water.
"It seals, it acts as a dust suppressor and it compresses," says Mr. Settles, whose claims about the enzyme
would seem ridiculous if he didn't appear to believe them.
He says Pave-Zyme can improve health (by reducing dust in the air around dirt roads), narrow the education
achievement gap between rich and poor (because kids living off dirt roads wouldn't have trouble getting to
school) and otherwise revolutionize life in rural America.
And he's spreading the dream.
Atlanta - which still has some dirt and gravel roads - will test Pave-Zyme on three roads starting in August. The
enzyme recently was put down on a dirt road in Aberdeen, Miss., and also is being tested in Macon County, Ala.
Mr. Settles says Pave-Zyme can harden a dirt road for $60,000 to $100,000 a mile - versus $180,000 and up to put
down a mile of asphalt.
He isn't charging for the tests, where Pave-Zyme is mixed with water and sprayed on dirt or used under asphalt
to make regular roads hold up longer. Mr. Settles thinks that once local officials see how well it works, they'll
come back to buy.
"It was a win-win," said Atlanta City Councilman Ceasar Mitchell, who sponsored the idea of allowing Mr. Settles'
company to try Pave-Zyme for free in Atlanta. Included in the city's test is a dirt road where a girl died three
years ago when her bike hit a pothole. The city still hasn't found money to pave that road.
"It's just unsightly," said Mr. Mitchell, adding that dirt roads often attract illegal garbage dumping.
In other communities, dirt roads can be dangerous. In Brantley County in southeast Georgia, which has 700
miles of dirt roads, emergency workers have reported getting stuck on their way to calls.
"It's always a challenge. In the winter when it's wet, you can get stuck. In the summer, it's all dust and sand, and
you can get stuck in that. It happens quite frequently," said Tim Crews, the director of the county's Emergency
Medical Service.
Mr. Settles says Pave-Zyme makes a road good for five to seven years, shorter than asphalt paving but still an
improvement from plain dirt, although road officials were skeptical.
Experts warn Pave-Zyme probably isn't a low-cost cure-all. Other hardeners have been tried before, and products
such as calcium chloride already are regularly added to dirt roads to help them last and reduce dust.
Nothing, so far, has completely solved the problem, said Dennis Rice, who puts together a quarterly newsletter
on road technology for the Georgia Department of Transportation.
"If you want a road to be like it's paved, you've got to pave it," Mr. Rice said.
Dirt-road improvements are especially troublesome in the South, where heavy rains and hot summers work
against road hardeners, he said.
"You really have to have something you can hold together real tight," such as gravel used in pavement, he said.
Mr. Rice and other transportation officials aren't completely dismissing Pave-Zyme. The Georgia DOT is
monitoring the Atlanta test and might consider endorsing it for local use if Pave-Zyme performs well. (The
department doesn't directly maintain any dirt roads; all the ones in Georgia are maintained by counties and
cities.)
Georgene Geary, a materials and research engineer for the Georgia DOT, said she's curious to see whether Pave-
Zyme does the job.
"We've had other products come through here and they weren't successful. They just didn't hold up," she said.
Mr. Settles is convinced he's about to change some minds.
"In some communities, they just can't afford to pave all their roads," he said. "This is something that will
consistently make the roads better at a price they can afford."
It's wait-and-see for officials.
"There's a lot of snake oil out there that doesn't work, but the only way to know for sure is to put it down and try
it out," Mr. Rice said.
From the Sunday, July 31, 2005 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle.
Has more than 30 years of experience in business development, with specific emphasis in
the areas of development/management of government and private sector programs. He has
planned, managed and provided leadership in community-based corporations that focused
on upgrading the living standards of the community from an economic standpoint. In 1989,
in Atlanta, GA, Mr. Settles founded the first African American owned straw manufacturing company in America, Elite Paper
and Plastics Company, Inc. and served as Chief Executive Officer. Most recently Mr. Settles launched a new Paving and
Environmental Management Company. Beginning in 1974, Mr. Settles worked with various sales, community and
business development agencies. From April 1978 to August 1983, he was with the Hamilton County, Tennessee
Department of Economic Development, where he served as Director, President and General Partner in the consulting firm
of GAMA Associates, an urban consulting firm specializing in the development and counsel of minority businesses. -
Executive Director of the Alton Park Community Development Corporation, Chattanooga, Tennessee. For three
consecutive terms, Mr. Settles successfully managed the campaign for Representative C.B. Robinson (also chairman
Tennessee Black Caucus) and maintains active interest in the National Black Caucus of State Legislators. - Mr. Settles
was an Incorporating Board Member of the Dekalb County Chapter of the 100 Black Men of America, Incorporated. Mr.
Settles was elected state-wide to represent the State of Georgia at the 1995 White House Conference on Small Business
and served as Chairman of the Community and Economic Development Committee - at the National Conference in June
1995. Mr. Settles and eight (8) other entrepreneurs formed and became the organizing board and administration for the
Georgia Black Chamber of Commerce in December of 1996. Mr. Settles founded and established the Omega Group of
companies in 1999 to address the series of infrastructure challenges (roads, sewers, water, agricultural farms, etc.) that
face our municipalities in the US, the Caribbean and the continent of Africa. Mr. Settles received his Bachelor of Science
degree from Talladega College, Talladega, Alabama in 1974, and has done graduate work at Florida State University and
at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in the area of Program Planning, Development, Administration, Evaluation
and Training.
ROAD CONSTRUCTION PRODUCTS AND SOLUTIONS PZ-22X© – Soil Stabilization PZ-22X© is a unique soil
stabilization compound that has proven effective in Jamaica in light of recent devastation of Jamaica’s road
infrastructure from torrential storms in May-June 2002. The Caribbean Disaster Fund has estimate the damage to
Jamaica’s roads at a level of $1.3 billion dollars. PZ-22X© is also an organic, environmentally friendly liquid enzyme
formula that bonds soil and increases compaction, makes roads impervious to water and increases load-bearing
capacity while reducing the amount of aggregate and other material needed to construct the road. PZ-22X© makes
maximum use of native materials and reduces the amount of material that has to be trucked to the site.
Enzyme Can Make Dirt Roads Durable, Man Says
By Kristen Wyatt | Associated Press
Saturday, July 30, 2005
ATLANTA - Thomas Settles grew up on a dirt road in Edgefield, S.C., a road so crummy it washed out completely
after a heavy rain and he sometimes couldn't get to school. Summers were spent choking at the road's dust.
Mr. Settles, 53, owns a paving company in Atlanta and is on a mission to save poor Southerners from the
indignities he grew up with. He's out to make dirt roads as good as paved ones.
"Look at this," he says, holding up a plastic jug of molasses-looking brown stuff. "This is all it takes."
The brown stuff is an enzyme called PZ-22X that can toughen dirt roads and help them stand up better to rain.
He says it will be a blessing for rural communities that can't afford to pave all their roads.
Mr. Settles didn't invent the enzyme, but he bought the rights to it, christened it Pave-Zyme and is getting
permission across the Southeast to test it on dirt roads.
Mixed with water and sprayed on dirt, the Pave-Zyme acts as a sealing agent, making the dirt more impermeable
to water.
"It seals, it acts as a dust suppressor and it compresses," says Mr. Settles, whose claims about the enzyme
would seem ridiculous if he didn't appear to believe them.
He says Pave-Zyme can improve health (by reducing dust in the air around dirt roads), narrow the education
achievement gap between rich and poor (because kids living off dirt roads wouldn't have trouble getting to
school) and otherwise revolutionize life in rural America.
And he's spreading the dream.
Atlanta - which still has some dirt and gravel roads - will test Pave-Zyme on three roads starting in August. The
enzyme recently was put down on a dirt road in Aberdeen, Miss., and also is being tested in Macon County, Ala.
Mr. Settles says Pave-Zyme can harden a dirt road for $60,000 to $100,000 a mile - versus $180,000 and up to put
down a mile of asphalt.
He isn't charging for the tests, where Pave-Zyme is mixed with water and sprayed on dirt or used under asphalt
to make regular roads hold up longer. Mr. Settles thinks that once local officials see how well it works, they'll
come back to buy.
"It was a win-win," said Atlanta City Councilman Ceasar Mitchell, who sponsored the idea of allowing Mr. Settles'
company to try Pave-Zyme for free in Atlanta. Included in the city's test is a dirt road where a girl died three
years ago when her bike hit a pothole. The city still hasn't found money to pave that road.
"It's just unsightly," said Mr. Mitchell, adding that dirt roads often attract illegal garbage dumping.
In other communities, dirt roads can be dangerous. In Brantley County in southeast Georgia, which has 700
miles of dirt roads, emergency workers have reported getting stuck on their way to calls.
"It's always a challenge. In the winter when it's wet, you can get stuck. In the summer, it's all dust and sand, and
you can get stuck in that. It happens quite frequently," said Tim Crews, the director of the county's Emergency
Medical Service.
Mr. Settles says Pave-Zyme makes a road good for five to seven years, shorter than asphalt paving but still an
improvement from plain dirt, although road officials were skeptical.
Experts warn Pave-Zyme probably isn't a low-cost cure-all. Other hardeners have been tried before, and products
such as calcium chloride already are regularly added to dirt roads to help them last and reduce dust.
Nothing, so far, has completely solved the problem, said Dennis Rice, who puts together a quarterly newsletter
on road technology for the Georgia Department of Transportation.
"If you want a road to be like it's paved, you've got to pave it," Mr. Rice said.
Dirt-road improvements are especially troublesome in the South, where heavy rains and hot summers work
against road hardeners, he said.
"You really have to have something you can hold together real tight," such as gravel used in pavement, he said.
Mr. Rice and other transportation officials aren't completely dismissing Pave-Zyme. The Georgia DOT is
monitoring the Atlanta test and might consider endorsing it for local use if Pave-Zyme performs well. (The
department doesn't directly maintain any dirt roads; all the ones in Georgia are maintained by counties and
cities.)
Georgene Geary, a materials and research engineer for the Georgia DOT, said she's curious to see whether Pave-
Zyme does the job.
"We've had other products come through here and they weren't successful. They just didn't hold up," she said.
Mr. Settles is convinced he's about to change some minds.
"In some communities, they just can't afford to pave all their roads," he said. "This is something that will
consistently make the roads better at a price they can afford."
It's wait-and-see for officials.
"There's a lot of snake oil out there that doesn't work, but the only way to know for sure is to put it down and try
it out," Mr. Rice said.
From the Sunday, July 31, 2005 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle.
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