Mr. Shearer is the Chief Executive Officer of Shearer’s Foods, the manufacturer/distributor of Shearer’s Award-Winning Snacks. He began his career early in the family-owned grocery store, and continued working in the family business through college, where he earned a B.S. in Finance from Walsh University in 1974. When the family decided to buy a potato chip distribution business that same year, Mr. Shearer sold and delivered products to customers. He remembers his early lessons from the grocery store—the customer is always of foremost importance.

Today, as CEO, Mr. Shearer is responsible for developing the culture and guiding the expansion of the thirty-three-year-old Shearer’s Foods. The company’s philosophies are a reflection his family’s solid ethics. Shearer’s received national attention when Real Simple magazine ranked them “Best Chips with a Beer” and Newsweek magazine commented Shearer’s potato chips were “...crisply addictive.” The American Tasting Institute of San Francisco honored Shearer’s with their Gold Medal Award as the best potato chips in America, and Snack Food and Wholesale Bakery magazine named Shearer’s “Snack Manufacturer

of the Year.” Shearer’s has been recognized as one of the fastest growing companies in Northeast Ohio by winning the Weatherhead 100, Cascade Capital Business Growth Award, The Entrepreneurs EDGE Award and the SCOPE Award (Stark County’s Business of the Year). The Weatherhead School of Management has also honored Shearer’s as one of its Family Firms of Distinction. By winning the Manny Award and the Evolution of

Manufacturing Award, the company has been recognized for manufacturing excellence. Shearer’s has been awarded the North Coast 99 for nine consecutive years as a top employer in Northeast Ohio. Inside Business magazine has honored Shearer’s as a top performing company ten times with the Team NEO Success Award. As a two-time Pillar Award winner, Shearer’s has been recognized as a responsible corporate citizen that understands the importance of giving back to the community. Shearer’s Snacks are distributed throughout the Midwest, New England states and parts of Canada via company-owned routes and a network of select independent distributors.

Mr. Shearer is a Past Chairman of the Snack Food Association, an international trade organization supporting snack food manufacturers and suppliers. He is a winner of the 2007 Entrepreneur Of The Year Award. Currently, he is serving on the Boards of Pegasus Farm, a therapeutic riding program for handicapped children, MelCap Partners and Glenmoor Country Club. He is a member of the Lake Erie College Board of Trustees. Mr. Shearer is married and lives in Canton, Ohio. His wife, Melissa, is Vice President of Communications for Shearer’s Foods.