Courtesy / CPM Constructors
Eldon Morrison
October 7, 2022
Industry mourns loss of CPM Constructors founder, president
By Staff
CPM Constructors in Freeport received an outpouring of condolences upon the loss of the company’s founder and CEO, Eldon Morrison, and its president, Paul Koziell, in an plane crash in Arundel on Wednesday.
“This is a family business, and Eldon and Paul’s legacy will continue to guide us,” Tim Ouellette, CFO and one of the family owners of CPM Constructors, said in a news release. “We will be forever grateful for their leadership that built the foundation for CPM Constructors in Northern New England.”
The men died after the single-engine plane Morrison was piloting crashed on Wednesday, according to published reports. Details of the accident will not be released until authorities complete their investigation.
Morrison founded CPM Constructors in 1985.
The company is focusing on internal communications with its team and contingency plans already in place to ensure operations continue as crews work on public infrastructure projects throughout Maine and New Hampshire.
“As you can imagine, we have an incredible task of ensuring that work continues, and our projects meet completion dates,” Vice President Andrew Kittredge said. “Our team recognizes this is a challenging time, but we know that Eldon and Paul believed in our crew and mission, and we will continue to meet the expectations.”
CPM Constructors is a family-owned general contractor focusing on bridge, pile driving, railroad, historic rehabilitation, and marine construction work across Maine and northern New England. Clients include state departments of transportation, turnpike authorities, municipalities, railroads, utilities, boatyards and other private entities.
Courtesy / CPM Constructors
Paul Koziell
The Maine Department of Transportation and the Maine Turnpike Authority issued a joint statement mourning the loss.
"Maine Department of Transportation team members are shocked and saddened today as we mourn the sudden loss of Eldon Morrison and Paul Koziell,” said Bruce Van Note, commissioner of the Maine Department of Transportation. “These two men were outstanding individuals and true partners in moving Maine forward. The work they did and the company they built will benefit people who live, work, and travel in Maine for decades to come."
CPM Constructors has worked on dozens of projects for MaineDOT in recent years, including the following:
• Replacing two I-295 bridges over Route 1 near Exit 17 in Yarmouth (ongoing)
• Rehabilitating five railroad bridges in the Northern Maine Railway line (ongoing)
• Replacing the Beals Island Bridge in Jonesport
• Replacing the Lambert Road and Lunt Road bridges in Falmouth
• Reconstructing the historic Cribstone Bridge in Harpswell
"Under the leadership of Eldon Morrison and Paul Koziell, CPM Constructors has steadily grown, thrived, and taken on ever more challenging work with an expanding young staff,” said Peter Mills, executive director of the Maine Turnpike Authority in a press release. “CPM is just finishing the reconstruction of Exit 45, one of the most diversified and difficult construction projects undertaken in Maine this past year.”
Mills continued, “Last Sunday morning, at Paul's invitation, I walked the Exit 45 site with him. He was visibly proud of the new interchange, as he and the CPM staff had every right to be. It is a handsome memorial to these leaders in heavy construction."
Recent projects by CPM Constructors for the Maine Turnpike Authority include:
• Reconstructing Exit 45 (ongoing)
• Repairing bridges for Ramp J & Wilson Road in Kittery and Littlefield Road in Wells (ongoing)
• Rebuilding, widening and lengthening the Cummings Road overpass just south of Exit 45
• Accelerated bridge construction replacement of Winthrop Street Bridge in Hallowell
• Reconstruction of the interchange at Exit 80 in Lewiston
Both MaineDOT and the Maine Turnpike Authority have been in touch with CPM Constructors this week.
Associated General Contractors of Maine’s executive director, Kelly Flagg, praised the two men as “strong advocates for the construction industry.”
Flagg continued, “Both volunteered time over many years to support future skilled workers through our education foundation and for that we will always be grateful.”
“In their business, community, and philanthropic activities, they represented the best of Maine,” said U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, in a prepared release. “Eldon and his wife Dianne have been good friends of mine for years. Eldon was very proud of his Washington County roots and deeply appreciative of the quality education he received at the University of Maine."
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