Page 13 - Ohio Restaurant Association Industry Awards

Based on the power of positive thinking and the Golden Rule, Jim Grote founded Donatos Pizza in 1963 in Columbus, Ohio. Knowing that there must be a better way, after years of applying sliced pepperoni by hand in the pizza shop, he went on to invent and patent the Pep-A-Matic, a machine to slice and apply pepperoni directly to pizza. He founded The JE Grote Company on this invention in 1972, which manufactures food processing equipment globally. The recipient of many honors throughout his career, Jim was inducted into the Junior Achievement Central Ohio Business Hall of Fame in 2003 and received the Conway Center for Family Business Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020. Donatos was also inducted into the Pizza Hall of Fame in 2015. Grote recently founded the Edge Innovation Hub, a center for creativity, where forward-thinking companies can innovate at the edge of possibility.
Grote’s moonshot is to instill unconditional love into artificial intelligence, countering the apocalyptic predictions surrounding AI.
After growing up in the Catholic tradition, Grote began his search for a deeper understanding of the golden rule, loving your neighbor as you love yourself. He learned about the Christian traditions of unconditional love, eastern traditions of yoga philosophy, meditation and the teaching of Buddhism on loving kindness and compassion.
Jim’s massive transformative purpose is to help evolve the American capitalist system to a profitable model based on the power of love and the Golden Rule, which he has coined as Agápe Capitalism.
Past Ohio Restaurant Association Hall of Fame Inductees
Ohio Restaurant Association Hall of Fame
JIM GROTE
DONATOS PIZZA
sponsored by
Class of 2019
CAMERON MITCHELL
Cameron Mitchell Restaurant Group
JEFF RUBY
Jeff Ruby Culinary Entertainment
BILLY INGRAM
White Castle Systems
Class of 2020
EMILY BENNETT
Bennett Management Corp and Tony Packo’s
DAVE THOMAS
The Wendy’s Company
THE GREGORY FAMILY
The Montgomery Inn