About Billy Wilson Howard Junior
In 1994, Billy Wilson Howard Junior founded Howard Lighting and grew the business to $60 million in revenue. Today, he sits on the board of directors of Howard Industries, a two-billion-dollar electrical and technology company consisting of four separate divisions and a wholly-owned subsidiary, Howard Transportation.
Billy’s Career Success
In 1989, Billy Howard Junior became president of Howard Transportation and ran the operation for 22 years. The company’s fleet of 250 trucks delivers long-haul flatbed transportation services to manufacturers in the eastern United States. Prior to heading Howard Transportation, Billy was the Regional Sales Manager and VP of the 3-Phase Transformer Division.
Within five years, Billy founded Howard Lighting, headquartered in Laurel, Mississippi, and served as president for 28 years. Howard Lighting has two manufacturing facilities in Mississippi, totaling half a million square feet, and a regional distribution center and sales office in the Greater Los Angeles Area. It offers a complete line of lighting products, including fixtures, lamps, and ballasts. Its fixtures include a full range of modern, high-efficiency LED products, most of which meet the latest DLC requirements. The company also offers many popular legacy fluorescent, HID, and Halogen lighting fixtures. Its lamp offerings include LED retrofit, linear fluorescent, compact fluorescent, high-intensity discharge (HID), and halogen. Howard’s ballast line-up includes electronic and magnetic fluorescent and magnetic HID ballasts.
Throughout Billy’s leadership and beyond, Howard Lighting continues to upgrade existing products and introduce new ones to provide cutting-edge products that meet the ever-changing demands of the lighting market.
In 2013, Billy Wilson Howard Junior founded the Howard Industries Center for Digital Innovation in Santa Monica, California, and led the firm for nearly seven years. The Center for Digital Innovation incubates Internet startups and develops innovative technology solutions for Howard Industries’ $1 billion utility products, lighting, eCommerce, education, medical, and interactive systems divisions. The combination of its talented team, Silicon Beach location, and shared-space office offers an ideal environment for creativity and new ideas to flourish. Its first launch was Slance.com, a platform that allows students to get paid while supplementing their education with relevant work experience.
Billy’s innovation, impact, and dedication to excellence were recognized in Mississippi’s Business Journal magazine with the Top 40 Under 40 award. The award celebrates an individual’s professional achievements and contributions to the broader Mississippi community.
Board Member, Howard Industries
As a board member of Howard Industries, Billy Howard Junior plays a strategic oversight role. Howard Industries consists of Howard Technology, Howard Lighting, Howard Medical, Howard Power, and Howard Transportation. Billy became a board member in 2022 and is involved in the company’s governance, long-term strategy and direction, risk mitigation and management, financial stewardship, and stakeholder relations.
Volunteer Work, Donations
Billy generously gives his time and financial resources to various organizations. He has volunteered at the Ocean Park Community Center (OPCC) homeless shelter and the Claire Foundation in Santa Monica. The OPCC is a housing and services network that assists low-income and homeless youth. The Claire Foundation provides services and residential treatment for substance abuse and sober living for adults who live in Los Angeles.
He has donated to the Midnight Mission in Los Angeles, the St. John’s Episcopal Church in Mississippi, and the Christ the King Episcopal Church in Santa Rosa, Florida. Billy has also donated to Tunnel to Towers (T2T) to support America’s heroes and their families. Since 9/11, T2T has been helping America’s heroes by providing mortgage-free homes to Gold Star and fallen first responder families with young children and building specially adapted smart homes for catastrophically injured veterans and first responders.
Billy is a member of the Arts Alliance of Walton County, Florida, and has been a member of the Rotary International for nearly four decades.
He was a volunteer youth soccer coach from 1996 to 2012 and a head coach, referee, and board member of AYSO for five years.
Proud Father of Three Daughters
Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Billy Wilson Howard Junior has lived in 10 states and traveled to all 50.
He lives in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, and will celebrate 41 years of marriage next February. Billy is the proud father of three daughters. Their stellar academic achievements include all three daughters earning a summa cum laude distinction—two from Mississippi State University, Billy’s alma mater, and one from Wake Forest University in North Carolina.
His oldest daughter, Mary Alice, graduated magna cum laude from Pepperdine Law School, Malibu, California. His middle child, Leslie, graduated with a Master’s in Neuroscience from the University of Florida and an MBA from UC Davis, California. Ellie, the youngest of three, will graduate from Wake Forest in May and attend the School of Law at Wake Forest University, a top-ranked law school in Winston-Salem.
Billy has two grandchildren, Oliver and Isla, who live in London with Mary Alice.
In his spare time, he enjoys an active and adventurous lifestyle and has a strong appreciation for the outdoors. He likes boating, snow skiing, and hiking, which allow him to remain physically active and take on new challenges.
