Howard Rowland, ’76, CEO of EW Howell Construction Group and a member of the Farmingdale College Foundation Board of Directors, has had brick and mortar in his blood since childhood.
"As a kid I would sit there for hours watching construction sites,” Rowland said. “It always fascinated me. Then I took some drafting classes in high school and I got hooked.”
It was that fascination for building that brought Rowland to Farmingdale State College in 1974, when it was still an associate degree institution. He studied Construction Engineering Technology, and though he later transferred to obtain his architecture degree, he says it was what he learned at FSC that helped propel him into a career in construction.
"I got a lot out of Farmingdale," said Rowland. "I enjoyed the nuts-and-bolts aspect of Farmingdale. It laid the foundation for my career.”
Now EW Howell, the company, is getting a lot out of Farmingdale, too. Several members of the executive and management teams are graduates of the School of Engineering Technology, and former students dot the ranks of the company up and down the food chain.
"We really look to Farmingdale as a solid force for employees,” says Rowland. “Now that it’s a four-year school, Farmingdale gets these guys to a point where they’re prepared to come in and expand their education through some hands-on stuff here."
"It’s worked out great. I can’t think of one person that’s disappointed us.”
Neither has EW Howell disappointed FSC. According to Professor Orla Smyth LoPiccolo of the FSC Architecture and Construction Management Department, the company — and Rowland in particular — has extended a helping hand to FSC students in the program.
"Howard was appreciative that I reconnected with EW Howell for field trips to their building sites," LoPiccolo said. "They have been most gracious hosts — giving excellent tours, having question-and-answer sessions, offering students advice, and providing lunch.”
"I know that if that was available when I was in school, I would have done backflips,” says Rowland, who became President of EW Howell in 1997.
The company, with a 200-member workforce, is one of the most versatile in the New York area, where it regularly ranks in the top 12 among commercial contractors. It is also the largest builder of its kind on Long Island. EW Howell has done work on the FSC campus, including the Broad Hollow Bioscience Park and a 2011 complete renovation of Hale Hall.
The work was done through its Education Division, one of five divisions that also include Arts & Culture, Healthcare, Retail, and Special Projects.
"Our diversity is the thing that separates us from everybody else,” Rowland said.
Another thing that helps the company stand apart is its philosophy of growing from within.
"That’s why Farmingdale works for us,” said Rowland. “We get the students indoctrinated into the way we do things, and without exception, most of them grow up in the firm.”
