William “Bill” Boyd Burgett (1930-2015)
Burgett founded Kokosing Construction Co. in Fredericktown, Ohio, in 1951. It grew from odd jobs to small commercial projects to one of the nation’s largest heavy highway contractors. Over more than 55 years, Burgett served Kokosing in a variety of roles, including president and chairman. The Kokosing companies includes Olen, Kokosing Materials, Kokosing Industrial, McGraw/Kokosing, Corman-Kokosing, and Integrity Kokosing, with a combined 3,000 employees and $1 billion in annual revenue.
Burgett was an outstanding volunteer leader in construction groups: president of the Ohio Contractors Association (OCA) and the National Utility Contractors Association; director of the Ohio Operating Engineers Apprenticeship Fund; and the ARTBA board. As chair of Flexible Pavements of Ohio, he established a fund that has awarded more than 400 scholarships to students studying civil engineering.
