Michael Koska is an experienced and established business owner in Northeast Columbia. He started his successful portrait and wedding photography business from scratch and has been instrumental in creating several civic organizations in the Columbia area. As a small business owner himself, Michael knows first-hand the issues such as healthcare and taxes that face small business owners and entrepreneurs. And, as a 20 year resident of Columbia, he knows about the issues facing our communities such as education, economic growth, and infrastructure challenges.
Born in Kansas City, Kansas, Michael spent his childhood in Wilmington, North Carolina. Michael, the eldest son of five children, came from an entrepreneurial family. He grew up watching his grandparents and parents grow their respective businesses and learned the value of hard work, determination, and good business ethics. He graduated from Wofford College with a BA degree in Business Finance and a BA degree in Economics. In 1990, a job transfer brought Michael to Columbia from Wilmington. Shortly thereafter, he met and married Angela Cook Koska, formerly of Orangeburg, South Carolina. Angela is a graduate of Columbia
About Michael
Republican for State House 77
MICHAEL KOSKA
College. In 1996, Michael and Angela realized their dream of opening a portrait and wedding photography studio. Today, they have photographed over 300 weddings and hundreds, if not thousands, of children, families, high school seniors, business executives, and more. During this business building period, Michael also created the Columbia Bridal Association, the Northeast Business Association, and Northeast Fine Living magazine.
Michael's interest in politics came about through his efforts to improve traffic conditions and infrastructure on Hard Scrabble Road in Northeast Columbia. Michael rallied support within the community and collected over 10,000 citizen signatures to encourage county and state officials to recognize the severity of the traffic challenges facing the Northeast community and take action to begin making improvements. Michael worked closely with Representative Bill Cotty, Senator Joel Lourie, and County Councilperson Val Hutchinson on this project. Some improvements have already been made while even more improvements are scheduled to begin over the Summer of 2008.
Michael lives in the Blythewood area of Richland County with his wife Angela and their daughter Caroline. The Koskas are members of Living Springs Lutheran Church where Michael serves on the Preschool Board. In his free time, Michael enjoys spending time with his family, golfing, and watching movies.
