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Business Hall Of Fame - James Coleman, John Downs, John Edge and Mike Schmitz

Rickey Stokes

Viewed: 8652

Posted by: RStokes
Date: Aug 31 2015 4:25 PM


DOTHAN:    The Dothan Area Chamber of Commerce and the Dothan Area young Professionals established in 2011 the Dothan Business Hall of Fame.


This past Thursday the groups recognized four businessman for their contributions  who have made an impact by promoting free enterprise.


Recognized and inducted into the Business Hall of Fame;  James F. Coleman, John E. Downs, John H. Edge and Michael D. Schmitz ( Mayor Mike ).



JAMES F. COLEMAN – Coleman Worldwide Moving




Mr. Coleman was born in September 1936 in Hutchinson, Kansas. He is the older child of Francis and Virginia Coleman.  He was raised along with three younger brothers,  Doug, Pat and Dale in Hutchinson, a mid sized city in Kansas.


As a boy, Mr. Coleman developed an entrepreneurial spirit and a very strong work ethic by helping move furniture and general freight in the family moving and storage company. Coleman Transfer and Storage, which was founded in 1914. He graduated from Hutchinson High School in 1954 and then attended the University of Kansas. While at KU, he met Janice Chelf and the two were married.


After College, Mr. and Mrs. Coleman headed to Los Angeles, California where he worked for the Hallmark Card Corp. as a top salesman for many years before returning home in 1961 to join the family business. Once back in Kansas,  he took over the family business as a fourth generation leader and began his journey with a few trucks, a warehouse and a strong family tradition to move with excellent service.


In the early 1970’s with its expansion throughout the Midwest, the company changed it name to Coleman American Moving Services and established an indendent van line, COVAN Worldwide Moving, which stood for Coleman Vans.  In 1975, Coleman American purchased Loftin’s Transfer and Storage, which was headquarted in Dothan, Alabama and had operations throughout the Southeast. This acquisition doubled the size of its moving and storage operations and the explosive growth in the Southeast prompted the company to move its headquarters from Hutchinson to Dothan in 1979. The company known has Coleman Worldwide Moving has significantly grown through the years to become one of the largest moving and relocation companies in the world.


With over a 6—year career as a great business leader, Mr. Coleman strongly  believes that a company should be an active participant in community service and has a responsibility and duty to serve others, which is demonstrated by the numerous civic and charitable organizations that it supports throughout the Dothan area and beyond.  He has been instrumental  in the development of the Wiregrass Museum of Art, Dothan Area Botanical Gardens and Troy University Dothan.


Jim Coleman has called Dothan home for almost 40 years  and while his business and community are important to him, he counts his family as his greatest commitment and blessing and his five children: Jennifer, Julie, Jill, Jeff and John, 15 grandchildren and two great grandchildren.



JOHN E. DOWNS – Qualico Steel Company, Inc.


A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord determines his steps.  Proverbs 16:9




John Edward Downs was born September 1944, in Deatsville Alabama. He began life as the youngest of nine children of his parents, Belauh and Ed, who were tenant farmers. From his earliest memories, getting up at 4 AM every morning to take care of household chores and preparing to head into the fields, was his life. Leisure time was  not on the agenda. As a young man hoeing cotton on those hot summer days, “Little Ed” as he was known made a decision that if he could escape the cotton field, he would never return.  GOD had big plans for this young man, unbeknownst to him.


At 18, Mr. Downs got his first public job with Gamble Steel Co. in Montgomery,  Alabama. The ethics of hard work he learned in that cotton field began paying off. Promotions came quickly as his motto became “ I may not be the smartest, but I can work the hardest.” His motto has served him well.


At 19. Mr. Downs met his wife Margaret on a blind date and three months later they married. He says “ The first time I saw her I knew she was mine”. This year they celebrate 52 years together. Their children, Jed (  Abby ), Michelle ( Kelly ), and Melody ( Charles ), along with 12 grand children and one great grandchild, are his greatest joy. They have been members of Calvary Baptist Church for 44 years.


Working with Aesco Steel  in 1971, Mr. Downs was sent to Dothan to open Aesco Dothan. Leaving Aesco in 1976, he purchased a red barn in Webb, Alabama, so with $ 10,000 he began what is now Qualico Steel Co.


With the help of family and other partners, the steel business has expanded to seven steel – related companies in three states employing over 500 team members. Five of these steel companies are in Dothan, which include Covenant Steel, QSI, Service Machine Co., and All South Pre-Engineered Components.


In non-steel related businesses, Mr. Downs has Southern Cattle in Marianna, Florida, and he is a partner in All South Urgent Care, which has three locations in Dothan.


John Downs life could be considered successful by many, but he knows success has only been possible because GOD has directed his steps.


 


JOHN H. EDGE – Flowers Hospital



In 1970 when John H. Edge accepted his first post-college job as a high school economics teacher in Southwest Alabama, he volunteered after school to help students learn critical life skills – managing money, applying for jobs, etc. No one assigned  him to do this work. He simply acted upon an innate characteristic: the ability to identify real problems impacting people’s lives, and the commitment to do whatever is required to make a difference.


Five years later, armed with a master’s degree in hospital and health administration from the University of Alabama in Birmingham, Mr. Edge began 40 years of making a difference for all of us in Dothan. His first major impact on Dothan’s quality of life resulted from his work with Flowers Hospital. First as administrator, then as CEO of Flowers, he led the hospital through strategic transformations and capital expansions, adding inpatient and outpatient services, cardiac cauterization, emergency services, the Surgical Center and more.


Mr. Edge forsaw the future of specialty medical care and worked tirelessly to expand services and recruit the best physicians. His ability to envision the future of health care and take calculated risks led Flowers Hospital to a new home on U.S. Highway 84 West, and secured its status as a top medical facility and one of the largest employers.


When Mr. Edge “retired” from Flowers in 1992, community leaders enlisted him to assist in the creation of Wiregrass Hospice. By combing his health care expertise and business acumen, he helped to convert the struggling entity into a successful enterprise that provided excellent end-stage patient care. By 2005 Wiregrass Hospice was enrolling 1,000 patients annually, employing 600 professionals at 19 sites in three states, and generating $ 45 million in revenue. Despite exponential growth, Mr. Edge always placed the need of the patients first as he created a solid, sustainable financial system.


The sale of Wiregrass Hospice in 2005 presented Mr. Edge with a third entrepreneurial  and leadership challenge as the proceeds were invested to create the Wiregrass Foundation. From 2005 to present, serving alternately as Board Chairman, President or Director, he led the Foundation through its formative years, working with community partners to identify needs and fund effective solutions. Due largely to his leadership, the Wiregrass Foundation has to-date invested over $ 30 million and is now the fifth largest foundation in Alabama.


John Edge and his wife Jean, have chosen to make Dothan their home, Their son and daughter-in-law, Vince and Amy, have blessed them with two amazing grand-daughters, Lowry and Hannah.


 


MICHAEL D. SCHMITZ ( MAYOR MIKE ) – Mike Schmitz Automotive Group



Throughout most of his 62 years, including 37 years in the automotive business, 28 years as a community leader and philanthropist, six years so far as Dothan’s Mayor, as well as his personal life, Mike Schmitz demonstrates the essence of his motivation: “ My personality is, Let’s make something happen. Let’s get better every day”.


Just surviving was the challenge of Mayor Mike Schmitz’s childhood, in which he was abandoned at an early age , then adopted at age 5 into the Schmitz family of Monroe Wisconsin. As one of six children in a crowded, sometimes competitive, yet loving home, he floundered, flunking the first grade and being kicked out of his Catholic School in the fifth grade. But in public school, a teacher named Mrs. Howe changed his life when she taught him to read.


Gaining confidence and self esteem, Mayor Schmitz excelled as a high school athlete in both wrestling and track and field, in which he set several school and state records. As an adult, he has competed in over 10 triathlons and several Ironman Triatholons, and in 2012 with his son Michael, then age 22, reached the 19,342 foot summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa.


Mayor Schmitz’s work history  began at age 9, and at age 21, while working at Frito-Lay Factory, he decided , “ This is it “.  In an old barely driveable Ford Fairlane, he headed to Panama City Beach Flordia, to start a new life.


Mayor Schmitz attended Gulf Coast Community College to earn  his real estate license, then became highly successful selling Pinnacle Port condominiums. In 1978, his entrepreneurial  spirit grew saw a greater opportunity in auto sales, and his management career zoomed.  With Quinn Rahal, he bought his first dealership in Enterprise, Alabama, and in 1987, Rahal – Schmitz Toyota moved to downtown Dothan. In 1999, he became full owner of Mike Schmitz Automotive Group, and demonstrating  his great belief in the future of our community, between 2008 – 2011, invested millions in Toyota, Hyundai and Mercedes – Benz dealerships on the south side of Dothan’s Ross Clark Circle.


In 2009, Mike Schmitz was elected Mayor of Dothan, with an historic 86 percent of the vote.  With no opposition, he was re-elected in 2013, and continues to be instrumental in many collaborative efforts benefiting economic development and quality of life in the Wiregrass community.


Mayor Schmitz’s longtime individual and cooperate generosity is almost legendary,  including his most heartfelt support towards endeavors benefiting children.


Married since 1977, Mike Schmitz proudly says, “ The greatest gift Sandy has ever given me is our son, Michael Jr. “ .



 


2014 HONOREES:  Norma Saliba Hanson – Norma Hanson & Associates: Larry G. Blumberg  - Larry Blumberg & Associates, LBA Hospitality: John A. Conti – Hedstrom Co.: Larry C. Register – Register Realty Co. Inc.: Dr. Jack L. Sasser – Wregrass Rehabilitation Center, Inc.


2013 HONOREES:   John H. ( Red ) Dove – AAA Cooper Transportation: Morris M. Slingluff – Slingluff United Insurance: Ralph Smith – Lewis – Smith Supply corp.:


2012 HONOREES:   Eustace E. Bishop, Sr. – Bishop Laundry and Cleaners: William Jesse Forrester – Sanitary Dairy: John H. Glanton, Jr. – Glanton and Son Homebuilding and Real Estate: Harry P. Hall – Dothan Federal Savings and Loan: John Holman Watson – Smith’s Inc. of Dothan


2011 HONOREES:   Agnes D. Simpson – WOOF Radio: G. Mack Dove – AAA Cooper Transportation: James W. Grant, III – James Grant Realty: Wallace D. Malone, Sr. – First National Bank: Richmond C. McClintock, Sr. – McClintock and Associates: Alfred J. Saliba – Alfred Saliba Corp.


The awards are on display at Dothan Area Chamber of Commerce headquarters on West Main Street.



 



 



 



 



 


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