Black Rock Coffee Bar CEO Mark Davis named EY finalist amid rapid growth

Black Rock Coffee Bar’s rapid expansion just got a new stamp of approval: CEO Mark Davis was named a finalist for the 2026 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Pacific Southwest Award, putting one of the fastest-growing coffee chains in the U.S. in the middle of a broader conversation about which operators can still scale cleanly in a crowded market.

EY announced the Pacific Southwest finalists on April 21, and the region covers Southern California, Arizona and Nevada. The Entrepreneur Of The Year program is in its 41st year, and the regional winners move on to national judging later in the year. Davis was selected for leadership, entrepreneurial vision, sustained growth and company performance, a résumé that fits the arc Black Rock has been building since he joined the company as CEO in August 2023.

That arc took a major step forward in September 2025, when Black Rock went public and raised $294.1 million by selling 14.7 million shares at $20 apiece. The stock opened around $26.50 and closed its first day at $27.53, implying a market value of roughly $1.32 billion. For a coffee chain that started in 2008 as a 160-square-foot bar in Beaverton, Oregon, that is a long way from the first drive-thru window.

The numbers since then have only strengthened the case that Black Rock is still in growth mode. As of September 30, 2025, the company had 169 locations in seven states. It said it opened 32 new stores during 2025, posted full-year revenue growth of 24.5% and finished the fourth quarter with same-store sales up 9.3%. Fourth-quarter revenue reached $53.6 million, up 25.3% from a year earlier, and Black Rock said it entered 2026 with 181 locations after opening 12 stores in the quarter.

That is the real significance of Davis’s finalist slot. Black Rock is not being recognized for a single hot quarter or a polished investor deck. It is being watched because it is trying to turn a drive-thru growth story into a durable public-market brand, while remaining the largest fully company-owned coffee retailer in the United States. Davis said the recognition extended beyond him to the entire Black Rock team, and that is the kind of leadership message that matters when a coffee chain is trying to keep growth, unit economics and brand control moving in the same direction.