Meet Savage from Leadership Coshocton County
Michaela Savage is a Coshocton County native, born and raised outside of Fresno. A 2019 River View High School graduate, Savage participated in FFA for four years, serving as president her senior year and going on to earn both her state and American degrees. She was a 14-year member of the This-N-That 4-H Club, starting as a Cloverbud. Her projects included cattle, pigs, cooking and shooting sports. In 2018 she was crowned the Coshocton County Fair Queen.Following graduation, Savage attended Wilmington College in Clinton County majoring in agribusiness with a minor in business administration. Taking summer courses, as well as interning at the Coshocton Soil and Water Conservation District, Savage graduated in December 2022 with a Bachelor of Science. She “always hoped to work for the Soil and Water Conservation District” and after a temporary position with the Farm Services Agency, Savage began as district technician in October 2023.
As district technician, Savage works closely with the Farm Services Agency (FSA) and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to provide technical assistance for Coshocton County farms on conservation-based projects. This entails engineering plans with NRCS and completing site visits on such projects as spring developments, livestock pipelines, pasture improvement, etc. She also provides educational programs for Coshocton County schools; coordinates the fifth grade poster contest highlighted during the county fair; shares the Enviroscape with classrooms and adults; participates in Earth Day activities and assists with other agricultural events in cooperation with the Ohio State University Extension and FSA such as the Fall Foliage and Farm Tour and First Farm Friday.
Savage is still learning her role and enjoys the challenges of learning the AutoCAD program for the engineering projects. She enjoys getting out in the field on site visits with producers and landowners and learning from District Administrator Ryan Medley and District Technician Zach Wallace.
Wanting to give back to the community, Savage is now a Cloverbud advisor for the This-N-That 4-H Club as well as in her third year serving on the fair board, where she oversees the agricultural hall.
Sam Daugherty recommended Leadership Coshocton County for Savage as a way to learn more about the community and leadership. Savage admits the program has “pushed her outside her comfort zone” and “enjoys working one-on-one for the chapter reviews.” She says, “I enjoy learning about the others in the class and the community. Living here I knew some about the community but there’s still quite a bit I didn’t know about.”
Savage appreciates the “very tight-knit community. It’s especially evident during the fair, when you see people and can pick up where you left off. The community also comes together when someone is in need. We help each other out.”
To make the county stronger, Savage said, “Keeping the community together and working together toward the same goal. We need to get everyone on the same page, which can be especially hard in a small town where everyone has the same ideas but different ways to get there. We also need community leaders working toward the same goal.”
Savage would “definitely recommend” Leadership Coshocton for others stating, “it pushes you outside your comfort zone and helps you find your strengths and weaknesses to work on. You get to know the county and the leaders in the county.”
She is married to Austin, who also is employed by the county as a mechanic, and they have one son, Hayden, who is 11 months old.
Category: Clubs & Organizations
