EW #315  is the founder and Managing Director of Associates, LLC,  a domestic and international franchise advisory firm. He has over 20 years experience as a Senior Operations and Financial Executive or Consultant for companies within the franchise, retail, restaurant and service industries as well as having been a franchisee.

He consults with companies on the appropriateness of franchising, both domestic and international, as a method to obtain their long-term expansion goals. He assists established franchisors and other multi-unit companies in tactical planning, headquarters and field support systems, manuals and training programs, e-commerce strategies, marketing and expansion strategies, franchisee advisory counsels, franchise relations, crisis management, expert witness, litigation support and the strategic restructuring of franchise systems.

He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) licensed in New York. He has been designated a Certified Franchise Executive (CFE) by the International Franchise Association and an Academy Certified Diplomate (ACD) by the American Academy of Certified Consultants and Experts.

He was a senior officer for Supercuts, an international franchisor of hair care salons and was also a franchisee of the system. He was a Senior Vice President of Seligman and Latz and was Secretary Treasurer/Chief Operating Officer for Phillips Son & Neale (US), an International Fine Art Auction and Appraisal Company. He was a principal advisor to the Franchise Group of the New York investment-banking firm, Kidder, Peabody & Company.

He is Past-Chairman of the International Franchise Association's Council of Franchise Suppliers and is a former member of the International Franchise Association's Board of Directors and Executive Committee. He is a Trustee of the Education Foundation of the International Franchise Association and Vice Chair of the IFA's Member Value Services Task Force. He is a member of several IFA committees and task forces including Minority In Franchising; Strategic Planning; Membership; Self Regulation; Education and IFARS.

He is a frequent speaker for the International Franchise association, retail and professional organizations, has published numerous articles on franchising, has testified on proposed franchise legislation, and is an often quoted expert in major business publications and in the electronic media on the subject. Together with Kay Marie Ainsley, He is the Franchising Expert for Entrepreneur.com.

He is the co-author, with Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy's, International, of Franchising for Dummies published by IDG Books, the publishers of the Dummies series.