Success Story

600 Downtown: Great Pizza & Great Business Skills Delivers Impressive Results!

Michael Shepherd is the founder and owner of 600 Downtown, a highly successful, full-service restaurant specializing in high quality, gourmet pizza in Bellefontaine, Ohio, a town of 13,000, about 45 miles northwest of Columbus.

One of the most remarkable and noteworthy parts of Michael's story is that in addition to being a world class restaurant operator he's also a 4 Time World Pizza Champion and 8 Time World Medalist Pizza Acrobat, holding more international medals than any other American.

Growing up in a small Midwestern town and becoming not only a successful business owner but also an international pizza champion makes Michael somewhat of a local legend. Like many, if not most, independent operators, Michael came from humble beginnings and through massive amounts tenacity, hard work and dedication he's become one of the most respected and highly regarded independent pizza operators in the industry. In addition, Michael is also a popular pizza industry speaker, trainer and advisor to other independent operators.

He got his start as a pizza delivery driver during high school and college. After studying computer programming and starting his first "real job" Michael realized that sitting at a desk and looking at a computer screen all day just wasn't for him. So he went back to what he knew best and was really good at, delivering pizza at the local Domino's. Then one day he heard that a local independent pizza delivery operation was for sale.