By: Jonathan Willey, SACC Intern
As a Young Professional, Mike Bireley looks to continue to strive for achievement through multiple endeavors for the betterment of himself and his community.
Mike started his journey by graduating from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore with a degree in Biology. Mike is married to his wife, Alexis, and has a dog named Jarvis. He currently serves as an Associate Advisor with SVN-Miller Commercial Real Estate. SVN specializes in the sale and lease of investment properties, multifamily, office space, and retail space in Maryland. This wasn’t Mike’s original career path, but working downtown and being around it led him to gaining his real estate license. He hasn’t looked back since helping his SVN office become ranked as the 4th out of 180 offices in the country.
“I love my job,” Mike said. “I get to meet a lot of people that I wouldn’t have met otherwise, I get to work downtown, and the flexibility is great.”
SVN isn’t the only place where Mike has found success. He also finds success away from work volunteering his time with the Young Professionals of the Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce. Mike started with the Young Professionals in 2015, and after Career Day, he knew he wanted to become a committee chair. Career Day features over 38 career fields from Wicomico County that 9th grade students choose from. Many area professionals volunteer to speak to students about their career paths. Students gain insight of that field, education and training needed, requirements, daily duties and more.
“I’ve always felt like our local education system is one of the most important aspects of our community, and I want to do anything I can to help it improve.” Mike said.
As a committee chair with the Young Professionals, Mike coordinates networking events, and professional development and community outreach opportunities. Mike has been involved with some great projects like Habitat for Humanity where he has personally helped build houses for the less fortunate. The opportunity to network is also a huge key to success, because he has been able to make connections with new colleagues and friends.
It’s clear the Young Professionals have had a great impact on the community, as they also have started to work hand and hand with the United Way Emerging Leaders. The Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals and United Way Emerging Leaders are both groups on the Lower Eastern Shore that are committed to the growth and development of local young professionals and the “young at heart”, by engaging in networking, professional development and community outreach events. The groups maximize the benefits of the individual memberships by making all networking, professional development and community outreach events available to members of either group. The Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals organizes their annual Career Day event for 9th graders in Wicomico County to learn about various careers, and Taste of the Town event, which awards a top chef in the area each year.
Mike has done such great work with the Young Professionals, that he was recently awarded Young Professional of the Year by the Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce. The Young Professional of the Year award recognizes a member of the Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals Network who has gone above and beyond the expected to support the group and its mission of aiding the next generation of business leaders
“I’m very happy to have received the award, and thankful for the recognition,” Mike said. “Honestly I was quite surprised to find out about it, as there are a lot of hard-working young professionals and it’s awesome to get to work with them on a regular basis.”
Outside of the Young Professionals, Mike enjoys playing the bass at his church, 3C-USA at the Delmar campus, and has also played for multiple local theatre productions done by The Salisbury School, and the Community Players of Salisbury. He will be performing in the orchestra for “Mary Poppins” presented by the Community Players. It’s safe to say Mike considers himself as a coffee connoisseur, as he held multiple jobs in the local coffee industry, where he spent a lot of time practicing and perfecting his latte art.
“I’m now just a regular at Main Roots and RiseUp,” Mike said. “Every chance I get to go to NYC, Annapolis, or Baltimore, there are multiple coffee stops on the agenda.”
“There is a certain type of energy that young people bring to the table that no one else does,” Mike said. “The local pride in our community has been a drawing point to keep local college graduates, which is key to growing our local economy.”
If you’re interested in getting involved with the Young Professionals, contact the Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce at 410-749-0144.
