Background
Michael Ray Crowder was born in Bristol, Tennessee, the second of four children to Oneida and Allen Crowder.
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Mike Crowder
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Education
He attended New Smyrna Beach High School, where he played football.
Career
Mike was raised in Bristol, but in 1973 his family moved to New Smyrna Beach, Florida. After football practice and during the weekends, Mike would work for his father at a tire retread and retail store. Mike graduated high school in 1980, and went to Ottawa University in Ottawa, Kansas on a football scholarship.
He later transferred to East Tennessee State University and graduated with a degree in computer science in 1986.
During his time at ETSU and shortly after, Mike worked as an EMT at the Bristol Life Saving Crew and a Sheriff"s Deputy at the Sullivan County Sheriff"s Department. After his stint as a Sheriff"s Deputy, Mike went on to build a successful computer consulting company with international clients.
He began investing in real estate, and was either a full-time or part-time owner of five privately held companies. While he was Chief Executive Officer of Cobalt Coal Limited., Mike was approached by Original Productions about doing a documentary/reality television series on Cobalt"s coal mine located in McDowell County, West Virginia.
Mike originally thought he was getting a prank call.
Eventually, Mike decided to allow Original Productions access to the mine. The result was the television show COAL, whose first season aired on Spike television on March 23, 2011.
