Originally from Hagerstown and Williamsport, MD, Mike spent over 25 years in the business world as an international labor mediator and business consultant before moving to Garrett County.
He became fond of the area as a geology student at Frostburg State University, but returned to Washington County after graduation to work at Fairchild Republic and Rohr Industries. At Fairchild he became politically active in the United Auto Workers Union (UAW), Local 842 as a committeeman, shop chair and, ultimately, President of Local 842. He was on temporary assignment for the UAW as an international training representative at Black Lake, Michigan. After leaving the UAW he became a labor mediator, first working for William Usery, President Gerald Ford’s Labor Secretary, before starting his own mediation business, Workplace Community Associates. As a mediator he worked in the aerospace, auto, chemical and coal mining industries.
Locally, in the early 1990s he was the Executive Director of Cumberland Area Labor Management organization where he dealt with public and private labor unions and their employers. Before starting Savage River Lodge in 1999, he and wife Jan Russell had a business consulting firm called the Nature of Business, which morphed into its permanent home at the Lodge.
An avid outdoorsman, Mike guided hunts throughout the United States including at Ted Turner’s Vermejo Park Ranch in New Mexico. He still guides fly fishing tours and often travels for turkey season.
Mike decided to run in the 2018 race for Maryland District 1A to help propel the people of Garrett and Allegany Counties. There are many positive opportunities and a bright future here where we live, work, and play.
Some of Mike’s current affiliations:
Co-owner, Savage River Lodge, Frostburg, MD
Co-owner, The Cornucopia Café, Grantsville, MD
and affiliated businesses in Grantsville, MD
Owner, Woodland Echoes game calls
President, Garrett Trails
Co-founder, Habitat for Humanity of Allegany County
Board Member, Appalachian Laboratory of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Studies
Board Member, Frostburg State University Business School
Board Member, Greater Grantsville Business Association
Board Member, Grantsville Revitalization Organization
Member, Sierra Club
Member, Izaak Walton League
Member, Trout Unlimited
Member, Ruffed Grouse Society
Member, National Wild Turkey Federation
Member, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
Co-recipient, 2015 Autumn Glory Ambassador
Co-recipient, 2008 Trident Initiative Model Entrepreneur of the Year
Graduate, Leadership Maryland 2007
Authority for Mike Dreisbach, Treasurer Jan M. Russell
Mike for Maryland 