Howard L. Rowland

A member of the Patchogue-Medford High School Class of 1974, Howard Rowland is a highly successful businessman who, for nearly four decades, has given back to the community nearly without limits, devoting his time, resources and passions to dozens of worthy charities and organizations throughout Long Island and the New York metropolitan area. Even when he was growing up in Patchogue, Rowland knew where his career was headed: he would be a builder. With a degree in architecture from Farmingdale State College, he entered the construction business and in 1983 he began working for the prestigious 100-year old EW Howell Construction Company. Rowland moved quickly up the corporate ladder, and by 1997 he had ascended all the way to the office of President and CEO, which he still occupies today. 

The company is famous for having built some of Long Island’s great mansions for the likes of E.F. Hutton and Charles Lindbergh, manufacturing plants for Grumman Aerospace, and medical and research facilities for Stony Brook University Hospital and Brookhaven National Laboratory. Throughout his career, giving back to the community has been a major motivator for Rowland, and so he made it a priority for EW Howell. Here are but a few charitable projects the company has supported: Child Advocacy Center at the Pat and Mary Bagnato Place for Kids, an establishment dedicated to the care of child victims of physical and sexual abuse; the Grace Peshkur house, a 3,000-suqare-foot handicap-accessible home built in 2006 for a young Holtzville girl diagnosed with Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa; Benefit for a Friend, a non-profit organization formed in 2003 which helps needy families of construction workers. 

In addition, Rowland has served on the boards of several charitable and not-for-profit organizations including Mercy Center Ministries and United Cerebral Palsy of Suffolk County. In 2011, under Rowland’s leadership and guidance, EW Howell was one of five firms in the U.S. to receive the Association of General Contractors (AGC) Community Award. Among the honors that have been bestowed on Rowland: Mercy Center Ministries Man of the Year (2015), AGC of America Community Award, Farmingdale College Foundation honoree, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation honoree (2013), Ward Melville Heritage Organization Award (2016), New York Botanical Garden 125th Anniversary honoree and Founders Award, Good Samaritan Hospital Ball honoree (2016), Suffolk County College Foundation honoree, Stony Brook Hospital Foundation honoree, Bayport-Blue Point School District SEED Foundation founding board member. Added to those are the many honors Rowland and EW Howell have received for their many superb building projects over the years. Howard and his wife, Patti, have lived in Blue Point since 1981. Their three daughters, Erinn, Megan and Kayla all live within the metropolitan area.