Mike Dow

---

Michael C. “Mike” Dow is chairman and CEO of Coastal Strategic Services. Before starting Coastal, he was executive VP of sales and marketing at Centralite Systems, Inc. Previously, Mike cofounded and served as VP of sales and marketing for Quality Micro Systems (QMS). QMS was founded with a $10,000 electronics loan and grew into a New York Stock Exchange listed corporation that was ultimately sold to Minolta. A “recovering politician” (his words), he served 16 years as mayor of Mobile. The focus of his tenure included downtown redevelopment, tourism and recruitment of foreign manufacturing industry investment and jobs. The Mobile Convention Center and Riverside Park, Mobile Government Plaza and RSA hotel and building investments were constructed during his time as mayor. Mike has a bachelor of science in economics and a MBA from the Mitchell College. He has served on numerous public and private boards including the Melton Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce, the Alabama Port Authority, the Mobile Arts Council, Mobile United, and many other local, state and national boards. He is a U.S. Army veteran serving multiple tours with the 173rd Airborne Brigade as a helicopter door gunner in Vietnam.