Sam G. Ballas, CFE, is Chief Executive Officer, President and Founder of East Coast Wings + Grill. Sam entered the franchising space committed to the East Coast Wings + Grill’s purpose to “Elevate Life Through the Dining Experience” with a brand mantra, “Driving Franchisee Unit Economics”. Sam along with the ECW Corp. team and the systems franchisees have strategically evolved the brand as one of the leaders in the casual dining space. Since 2015 he authored several articles on the brand’s core philosophy of “driving unit level of economics” in national restaurant and franchising trade publications. In 2017, Sam also engineered the development of ZorAbility, Inc., an emerging brands coaching & investment firm- to date the firm owns other franchise models and is engaged in coaching and navigating Founders/ emerging brands through ‘best practices’ in scaling a franchise model. East Coast Wings + Grill has been awarded many business and franchise system accolades ranging from INC 5000, Franchise Business Reviews Top 50 Best, Entrepreneur Magazines Top 500, Franchise Times Top 200+ and may more.

Sam serves as a Board of Director and on several committees for the International Franchise Association (IFA) and is a designated Certified Franchise Executive (CFE) by the Institute of Certified Franchise Executives. He is a designated Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) by the CCIM Institute’s Commercial Real Estate Global Standard for Professional Achievement. Sam graduated from Lees-McRae College and concluded his studies at the University of North Carolina- Charlotte.