Executive Leadership
Link Howard III
President and Chief Executive Officer
Link Howard III, President and Chief Executive Officer of Powerlink Facilities Management is a successful entrepreneur, devoted leader of a Christian congregation and dedicated community leader. His path to achievement started in Detroit as a high school graduate, and it led him to a career as a military police officer serving during the height of the Vietnam War, into management in the private sector back in Michigan, and then to the launch of what has become a 400+ employee company operating in several states and Canada. Throughout his career, Howard has achieved success by motivating others to do more than they thought possible.
When Howard graduated from high school he enlisted in the Air Force and was trained as a military police officer. He served in Vietnam, and when he returned he stayed in the federal service. Until 1997, Howard worked in military law enforcement and was the Equal Employment Opportunity Manager, primarily at Selfridge Air National Guard Base. During that time, he also attended Northwood Institute, and Anchor Bay Bible College. In 1987 Howard became pastor of Faith Christian Community Church in Port Huron, Michigan. From 1987 until he left the federal service, Howard was Equal Employment Opportunity Manager for all Air National Guard civilian employees in the U.S.
Howard took an opportunity to work in the private sector at an automotive supplier in 1997, and he quickly rose through various sales and operations positions to become an operations manager, and ultimately a Vice President for Sales and Marketing, for Venture Industries. In 2002, Howard took what he had learned about leading and teaching others to form his own temporary staffing company, supplying primarily in the automotive sector. By 2003, Howard realized some automotive supplier customers were in financial trouble, so he re-launched his company as Powerlink Facilities Management with a focus on providing building management services to business customers, rather than temporary staffing. He also acted quickly to find customers outside the automotive industry. Part of Howard’s success has been bringing the discipline of continuous improvement and rigorous metrics from manufacturing into housekeeping, groundskeeping and general facilities maintenance. Powerlink is an ISO 9001-certified company.
As he continues to lead Powerlink, Howard maintains his strong sense of faith and community by serving as pastor of his congregation, leading mission trips to Africa and providing educational opportunities for youth in Detroit and Flint. He is also an avid sports and fitness advocate, a husband for 38 years, father and grandfather.
Scott Rice
Chief Operating Officer
Scott Rice, Chief Operating Officer of Powerlink Facilities Management started his career while attending college job coaching special needs students in a packaging consumer products for a small manufacturer. He was so successful at implementing process improvements that he soon began consulting for the company making other parts of the operation more efficient. Rice completed his undergraduate degree in business administration from Walsh College while he worked full time.
Before he joined Powerlink, Rice also succeeded in turning around two plastic injection molding plants in the automotive and consumer products industries. Rice managed capital investments in new equipment and cut the workforce to a size that matched the volume of business and new efficiencies in processes. He shed contracts that were not profitable and applied metrics to gauge quality, productivity and customer satisfaction. A combination of new equipment and employee suggestions cut the time to change molds by 80%. When space opened up as inventory was trimmed, it was used to build capacity. As a result of the turnaround, plants that had been losing money exceeded company targets by achieving a 38% contributed profit margin.
Rice joined Link 2 Technologies in March of 2003 and helped Link Howard launch Powerlink Facilities Management Services in August of that year. Starting with just one customer and 20 employees, Powerlink has grown to nearly 400 employees working at health care, manufacturing and utility facilities in the Midwest and Southeast United States and Canada. Rice has had responsibilities in every facet of the operation, from sales and marketing to operations, and he now serves as Powerlink’s Chief Operating Officer.
For the past 15 years, Rice has coached many high school and youth basketball teams. From this experience he has gained a strong appreciation of the tremendous need for involvement with youth in our community. Rice actively supports Powerlink’s educational and community initiatives focused on improving opportunities for youth. He leads a summer entrepreneurial workshop for Kettering University AIM (Academically Interest Minorities) program and supports local youth mentoring organizations. Rice also serves on the board of Winning Futures, a youth mentoring organization based in Southeast Michigan.
Kathleen Howard
Director-EVS Services
Kathleen helped Mr. Howard start Link 2 Technologies in 2002. She brings two decades of experience managing and creating human resource solutions. Kathleen has frequently been recognized for her leadership and personal commitment to providing workforce opportunities for women, the disabled, older Americans, minorities and the economically disadvantaged. She has worked closely with Workforce Investment Boards, other local workforce agencies, and community organizations to identify and support business community labor force needs, job seeker needs and economic development objectives. She is passionate about serving the Detroit area community and has been involved with the Transportation to Work Task Force, and was a participant in the State of Michigan Welfare Reform Subcommittee. Kathleen holds a B.A. in Management and Organizational Development, as well as M.A. in Organizational Management from Spring Arbor University.
