In the automotive industry since 1978, Mayor Schmitz owns the Hyundai, Mazda, and Mercedes-Benz franchises as Mike Schmitz Automotive Group in Dothan.  All of the Schmitz dealerships have won numerous factory awards for sales and customer satisfaction, having sold as many as 3,000 new and used vehicles annually. In 2008, Mike Schmitz was Alabama’s recipient of what is considered the auto industry’s most prestigious retail honor, the TIME Quality Dealer Award.

A 20-year competitor in the Ironman Triathlon, Mayor Schmitz recently raised $25,000 for the Wiregrass Children’s Home by walking 80 miles over a three-day period, and in 2007, bicycled cross-country over 3,000 miles from the Pacific to Atlantic with three other former Chamber of Commerce Chairmen to raise $100,000 for the Children’s Home.  Mayor Mike’s passion for child advocacy has inspired him also to lead a city-wide campaign against illiteracy, to assist in building parks in a disadvantaged section of town, and to provide funding for the Hawk Houston Boys and Girls Club.

Mike Schmitz 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 he has been a member of Leadership Alabama.

Mike  Schmitz was elected Mayor of Dothan on July 14th, 2009, with an  historic margin of 86 percent of the voters in virtually every demographic.  A  native of Wisconsin and new to elected politics, Mayor Schmitz has been widely  known and admired in Dothan for over 20 years as a successful businessman and  active community leader.     

In addition to his duties for the city of Dothan, Mayor Schmitz serves as Chairman of the Wiregrass United Way, is on the Board of Directors of the Foundation of Southeast Alabama Medical Center, is a member of the Board and was one of the organizers of Dothan’s Trinity Bank, and serves as Chairman of Envision’s Regionalism Task Force, a panel comprised of 25 area mayors and chairmen of 8 area county commissions working together to identify and correct community problems.

Mayor Schmitz and his wife of 33 years, Sandy, are the proud parents of 21-year-old Mike, Jr., who completed a year of mission work in July, 2009, teaching English to orphans in various locations around the world.  Mike, Jr. is currently a sophomore at Huntington College in Montgomery.

In business, in community involvement, on the campaign trail, and now as Mayor, Mike Schmitz is an ardent advocate of consensus building, believing that “Together we can do better,” and in that spirit,     he is ready, as he’s often said over the years in his various roles, to “Go! Go! Go!” for Dothan.