[1][2] Drewel worked as an assistant sales manager at the Rhodes Brothers department store in Seattle and later for a labor-relations firm before moving to Everett.
[3][4] Drewel was hired by Everett Community College in 1974 to work in their personnel department and twice served as interim president in 1981 and 1984.
[5][6] He was appointed permanently to the position in December 1984, and became interested in politics while involved in the college's lobbying efforts in the Washington State Legislature.
[1] During his tenure at the college, Drewel led efforts to rebuild the campus library after it was destroyed in a fire, as well as paying back $1 million in debt to the state after a miscalculation in enrollment numbers, and the establishment of early-retirement and retraining programs for staff.
[1] Drewel was appointed the executive director of the Puget Sound Regional Council in December 2003, and served in that position until his retirement on January 2, 2014.