Over thirty-seven years’ experience converting troubled and underperforming companies to profitability in various industries such as medical devices, financial services, toys, gifts, music publishing and metal fabrication. Consistent with that mission, Mr. Sheppard agreed to accept the position of CEO of Nevada Mining Company in order to restore this troubled & delisted company to profitability and credibility in the marketplace and to maximize the return on the shareholder’s investment. His first step was to engage a top notch securities law firm, Greenberg and Traurig and then to hire a credible auditing firm to better understand & access the damage. On March 1, 2005 Mr. Sheppard and GT negotiated the position as Chairman/CEO with the proviso that he would accept the resignations of all present Directors and that the former CEO and majority shareholder would resign upon the completion of an external audit. With the assistance of GT, he then installed a new board of directors and completed the audit on 10-11-06 and assumed formal control via a settlement agreement on 2-9-07 and approved by the 10,000 shareholders on 3-31-07. The settlement agreement also retired previously issued preferred shares which would have returned majority control to the previous management. This agreement also reduced the firm’s debt by $13,900,000. Mr. Sheppard then engaged The Blackstone Group to properly position the company to be sold or joint ventured via the production of a professional Executive Summary and their commissioning of Advanced Analytical Labs to conduct independent custodial assays to demonstrate the potential value. He then negotiated repayment terms with all creditors & the IRS as previous management had not filed corporate taxes since 1999. In 2009, Mr. Sheppard renegotiated his Employment Agreement & agreed to reduce his salary 55% retroactively to 2004 ($2,000,000) in exchange for 30,000,000 NMC shares so that he would have more “skin in the game.”
Previously, he orchestrated the startup of Atkinson Technologies introducing an innovative Mobile IV System no longer dependent upon gravity and successfully secured a Congressional grant for $2.45 million for military applications & successfully negotiated an equity partner with Vanderbilt University.
As President of New Life Corporation of America and the National Community Foundation, he led an organization scheduled to be closed on 12-31-97 to national prominence serving 21,000 financial professionals. In less than six years, his new team raised over $400,000,000 for charities in 52 countries with over $200,000,000 in liquid assets. He is a nationally known speaker and former Certified Senior Advisor on financial matters having addressed such prestigious organizations as the National Organization of Estate Planning Attorneys and the International Organization of Registered Investment Advisors.
As CEO of Kidpower Inc. his charge was to take them public and, in the process, achieved record profits. He also accomplished a similar turnaround at Quality Industries returning them to profitability within six months and putting a halt to union organization attempts. As President of World Bible Society and Silver Bells Music, he established a distribution network in excess of 100,000 outlets with a 56% gross margin and then brokered its sale to Thomas Nelson Publishing where he served as President of the Mass Market Music Division.
Previously Mr. Sheppard served the Firestone Corporation for 12 years in various capacities such as Division Manager serving 1500 employees as the number one operating division contributing in excess of $100,000,000 revenue and as Coordinator of Training and Development trouble shooting & turning around under-performing divisions of Firestone’s 48 North American plants.
Academically, he received scholarships and worked his way through college and earning an Associate’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Sinclair College while working as a Jr. Engineer at NCR. He earned his Industrial Engineering degree from Miami University [Oxford, Ohio] and his MBA from Wright State University going five years to night school while working at Firestone. In addition, Michael possesses a strong desire to give back to the community by serving on several boards including the American Cancer Society as President, The United Way, The Family Institute (Focus on the Family), America 21, Physicians Resource Council, the Exchange Club and a founding Director of The Family Foundation Fund serving fatherless youths. Michael was honored by President Clinton for raising over $400,000,000 supporting humanitarian efforts worldwide and has served President G.W. Bush on the Republican Presidential Roundtable as well being requested by Senator Bill Frist to represent Tennessee on the Republican Senatorial Inner Circle. He is a devoted Christian and a strong family man for 50 years with two children and two Grandchildren and when time permits enjoys golf and tennis.