Blas Escarcega serves as the Vice President of Franchise Development for Pollo Campero, the world’s largest Central American chicken chain with over 100 units in the U.S. and 280 units in Central America. Escarcega, a Dallas-based restaurant financial executive, spent the bulk of his career guiding those in the restaurant industry to a path of growth and profitability via performance management, strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, resource allocation and capital structure. Escarcega held the position of Chief Financial Officer at a beverage distributorship before transitioning to Campero USA, where he first held the position of Corporate Controller for over two years and then Corporate Business Partner and Director of Finance for over 13 years. As Vice President of Franchise Development, Escarcega leverages his experience and drive to accelerate franchise development across the U.S.

Michele Maerz brings over 30 years of experience in the restaurant industry to her role as President of Salata. Before joining Salata, she served as Regional Vice President at On The Border Grill & Cantina, where she managed operations for 39 restaurants across six states. Her extensive background also includes leadership roles at Lazy Dog Restaurants, BJ’s Restaurants, and Brinker International. At Salata, Maerz has been instrumental in enhancing operational procedures, launching new menu items, and expanding revenue streams through strategic partnerships. As President, she is focused on driving the brand's strategic vision, ensuring operational excellence, and doubling the chain's footprint.

Jeremy Vitaro has been with Qdoba since March 2024. He has more than 20 years of development and franchising experience with diverse brands in the food industry. Most recently, he was Chief Development Officer for Little Caesars Pizza, leading their global growth from 2021-2024. Prior to that, Jeremy was with Dunkin’ Brands (Dunkin’ Donuts & Baskin-Robbins) for 18 years in roles of increasing responsibility in Operations, Finance, Development and International. Jeremy also has extensive experience working overseas and speaks multiple languages, having worked earlier in his career in Europe for both the Benedict Group in the franchise education segment and Casoni SpA in the wine and spirits industry. Jeremy received a Bachelor’s degree from UCLA, a Master’s degree from Stanford University, and an MBA from Colombia University.

Samir Wattar is a veteran of the restaurant industry with 30+ years experience in restaurant operations and management with established high growth and start up companies. Samir is progressive, decisive, innovative and is highly valued for expertise in interpreting corporate vision and strategy, translating objectives into actionable plans, and providing leadership to multi-functional, cross cultural teams. His past roles include Senior Director of Operations at Pollo Campero, Vice President of Franchise Development & Supply Chain at MOOYAH Burgers, Fries & Shakes, Vice President of Supply Chain at Fuzzy’s Taco Shop and currently the Chief Operating Officer at Layne’s Chicken Fingers.

As Chief Product Officer of FranConnect, Jaffrey Ali is responsible for taking the company vision and creating a product roadmap for success, translating to concrete milestones for the product. The management aspect of his role involves determining ways to build and invest in the product on an ongoing basis to gain customer traction and increase value for customers. Most recently, he served as Head of Product Management, Strategy, and Marketing for Haystax Technology, a cybersecurity product company.