Dr. Mike Galiazzo has dedicated his life to “improving opportunities for people, communities and the economy.”
Growing up in Dundalk with a father who worked at Bethlehem Sparrows Point Shipyard, and surrounded by the GM Chevy plant — and such companies as Bethlehem Steel, Lever Brothers and Western Electric — he learned early on about the importance of manufacturing.
“Eastern Baltimore County was positively influenced by manufacturing,” Galiazzo explains. “It included people who worked in manufacturing or benefited from manufacturing, such as restaurants, repair shops, retailers and other small businesses.”
Galiazzo served in the U.S. Air Force and earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Education, Community College Leadership from the University of Texas at Austin.
During his tenure as director of retraining and community development at Dundalk Community College, he stepped up to then County Executive Dennis Rasmussen’s challenge to “create a plan to serve manufacturing in eastern Baltimore County.”
In 1990, Galiazzo led the planning team and ultimately wrote the document to create the Regional Manufacturing Institute (RMI) of Maryland, which has evolved into the leading advocacy organization for Maryland manufacturing.
Serving as RMI’s president since its inception, Galiazzo has made it his mission to support the success of Maryland’s broad array of manufacturers.
For three years, he served concurrently as the state manufacturing coordinator for the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development.
His bold and innovative ideas, relentless support for the industry and passion for helping others have made him the most respected go-to individual for Maryland manufacturing.
In fact, Congressman Steny Hoyer dubbed him the “Godfather of Maryland Manufacturing.”
The Daily Record named Galiazzo a 2021 Icon award winner, RMI named him the “2022 Grand Champion of Maryland Manufacturing” and the “2024 Maryland Manufacturing Star,” and the Maryland Chamber of Commerce named him its “2025 Maryland Business Hall of Fame inductee.”
But Galiazzo says his “biggest accomplishment is the total number of people who benefited from a lifetime of working with many fine people to lift up others and improve their lives.”
“My philosophy is, ‘Do good things with good people for good reasons,’” he adds. “Helping to improve the lives of others, mostly by education, work or charity, is my reward.”
Why does manufacturing still motivate him after all these years?
“Manufacturing is an instrument of social change, providing well-paying jobs and benefits,” he says.
Concerned about the impact of new tariffs and disappointed that Maryland’s manufacturing climate is “chilly” compared to those of other states, Galiazzo will continue to “urge public policymakers to act creatively to spur Maryland manufacturing growth.”
Especially now, he says, while “American manufacturing is experiencing transformative systemic change due to advanced technologies, including digital tech (3D scanning and printing), bio tech, nano tech, AI and eventually quantum.”
“The production line of the future will be 3D printing, and this is a major innovation in how we make things,” Galiazzo explains. “We need to do all that we can to make Maryland a national showcase of next-generation American manufacturing.”
For more information about RMI of Maryland, visit rmiofmaryland.com.
Caryn R. Sagal is a Baltimore-based public relations consultant and freelance writer.