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  Schmitz, Mike
CANDIDATE DETAILS
AffiliationNonpartisan  
 
NameMike Schmitz
Address
Dothan, Alabama , United States
EmailNone
Website [Link]
Born Unknown
ContributorUser 490
Last ModifedUser 490
Apr 08, 2009 08:52am
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InfoMike Schmitz is a champion in business and in the Wiregrass community alike. He is an award-winning automobile dealer. Mike Schmitz was deemed the worthy recipient of Alabama's 2008 TIME Quality Dealer Award, considered the auto industry's most prestigious retail honor.

Mike is also a pillar of the community, serving on numerous non-profit boards such as the Southeast Alabama Medical Center Foundation, the Wiregrass Children's Home, and the United Way. As the 2007 chairman of ENVISION and the 2005 Chairman of Dothan By Design, he has also played a large role in the economic development of southeast Alabama.

Mike's Life

While Mike's enthusiasm and energy has bred success after success, the Mike Schmitz of today is very different from that of his early childhood. And while it is hard to image Mike taking a very different path in life, or barreling down the wrong track, that is almost what happened.


At age five he was adopted by the Schmitz family in Wisconsin. After the fear and confusion of being put in the custody of child welfare, Mike began to act out at school and two weeks into Kindergarten he was asked to leave. By fifth grade, he was kicked out of Catholic school completely.

This event proved to be a turning point in Mike's life. Mrs. Howell, his new fifth grade teacher, saw the scared little boy behind the bad boy behavior. She also noticed that one of the causes of Mike's problems in school was that he had never been properly taught to read. She told him that books can teach him to be anything he wanted to be and so she taught him to read, gave him a book, and his life changed forever.

Mike's Success in Business

Mike entered the car business in 1978 in the Dealer Development Program of Key Royal Automotive. In 1984, he was recruited by a dealer from Marianna, Florida as general manager of a Toyota franchise. Within twelve months he had quadrupled the net income. He moved to Alabama and became the dealer principal of Toyota of Enterprise in 1986. After a brief stay in Panama City, Florida, he moved to Dothan and joined Rahal Buick; first as a partner and then in 1995 as the majority owner. He currently owns the Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, Mazda, and Suzuki franchises as Mike Schmitz Automotive Group in Dothan and along with John Mitchell owns Toyota of Dothan.

All of the Schmitz dealerships have won numerous factory awards for sales and customer satisfaction through the years. In 2008 Mike Schmitz was deemed the worthy recipient of Alabama's TIME Quality Dealer Award.

Giving Back

Despite a whirlwind of business activity, Mike is an active participant in many of the Wiregrass community's non-profit organizations. As a passionate child advocate, Mike led a city-wide campaign against illiteracy, assisted in building parks in a disadvantaged section of town, and provided two years funding for the Hawk Houston Boys and Girls Club.

Recently, Mike raised $25,000 for the Wiregrass Children’s Home by walking 80 miles over a three-day period. In 2007, Mike biked over 3,000 miles across the country with three others to raise $100,000 for the Children’s Home.

On May 1st of 2008, Mike and Sandy Schmitz hosted a fundraiser in Dothan for the Wiregrass Children's Home featuring former Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee as the speaker. That special night raised $53,000 for the Wiregrass Children's home.

Mike has been the recipient of many service awards including the Freedom Friend Award from the NAACP, the Alabama Education Association’s Public Servant Award, the Dothan Fire Department’s Community Partnership Award, the United Christian Fellowship Good Samaritan Award, the Paul Harris Fellow Award presented by the Dothan Houston County Rotary Club, and a member of Leadership Alabama.

He and his wife Sandy have one son, Michael, who graduated from Northside Methodist Academy in 2008. Michael is currently living in India as he completes a year of volunteer work in orphanages around the world.

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  07/14/2009 Dothan, AL Mayor Won 87.11% (+74.23%)
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AL Governor - R Primary - Jun 01, 2010 R Bradley Byrne