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"We started getting calls about porous asphalt pavements," recalls Dave Vogt, a Bend, OR-based contractor. "So in 2008 we decided to take the lead in central Oregon and show this market how porous asphalt could solve the stormwater management problems we're facing."

Vogt succeeded. Last year his firm, Hooker Creek Companies, placed two test sections of porous asphalt pavement. They handle stormwater well, so Hooker Creek upped the ante by constructing the first full-size porous asphalt parking lot in that part of the state at the firm's new equipment rental store in Redmond.

Today, the firm gets calls to present the technology to various forums of contractors and engineers. With that, porous asphalt is a new market for Hooker Creek.

Just as Hooker Creek's business model worked well for them, so it can work well for other asphalt contractors. It's a good idea to start by building a successful project or two. Then you have a demonstration project to showcase to others. Word spreads, you make some presentations, engineers and environmental authorities like what they hear, and you're up and running.

"The best promotional tool for porous asphalt is the product itself," says Jim Huddleston, executive director of the Asphalt Pavement Association of Oregon.