OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – Sonic Drive-In has hired Sam Wong as the new senior director of franchise sales and development. Wong will be based in Irvine, California, and will lead franchise development for states including California, Oregon and Washington, with priority markets including Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

“Sam is a strong salesman with relevant experience that will greatly benefit our team as we continue to grow toward our development goals,” said Drew Ritger, senior vice president of development. “Sonic is a national brand with more than 3,500 drive-in locations, and our entire development team is focused on expanding the brand to fans across the US by offering a differentiated franchise concept to interested entrepreneurs in markets large and small. Sam will help us do this.”

Sonic currently has drive-ins in 45 states and will soon open a location in Hawaii. According to the company, Wong will be instrumental in contributing to the company’s development pipeline in the coming year.

Wong previously worked as the senior director of development for Dairy Queen Corp. and as the director of development for Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen.