Jeremy White
Editor-in-Chief
Pizza Today
[email protected]
Huge congratulations are in order for Rocky Shanower. Our Young Entrepreneur of the Year for 2020, Shanower — founder and owner of Park Street Pizza in Sugarcreek, Ohio — describes in great detail in this issue how he has been driven by a pursuit of excellence. He’s always striving to do better.
That’s an admirable and driving trait I’ve found in most of the truly successful people I know. For those of you who watched the miniseries “The Last Dance” during the Great Quarantine, you surely recognized that trait in the one and only Michael Jordan.
Better than yesterday is always a step in the right direction. And after thousands of little steps like that over years, it’s amazing to look back and see how far you’ve gone. Shanower was able to do that in this issue thanks to the unique situation the aforementioned quarantine put us all in this year.
You see, the Young Entrepreneur of the Year winner was supposed to be announced at International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas in March. Obviously, that couldn’t happen. We were
Rocky Shanower
supposed to send our editors, photographers and film crew to Ohio to sit with Shanower in his restaurant for two days for this issue. Obviously, that couldn’t happen.
We had to get creative, and Shanower answered the call in a huge way. He suddenly and unexpectedly found himself becoming a writer, editor, creative director, pizza maker and business operator all rolled into one as we figured out how we could still make this feature happen. He pulled it off without a hitch.
That’s why we know that, after you read his piece, you’ll be excited to hear Shanower deliver a keynote address at the Pizza Pasta Northeast Show in Atlantic City this October. Packed with insight into who he is and what he does at Park Street Pizza, his address will most assuredly inspire you to take a look at how you operate your own shop each day. You won’t want to miss it. Just like the iconic movie, this Rocky packs quite a punch.
Best,
Jeremy white
Editor In Chief
