Page 52 - Delaware 222 - 2025

FOOD & BEVERAGE GOVERNMENT
Eric Sugrue
Big Fish Restaurant Group
Big Fish Restaurant Group owner Eric
Sugrue opened his fi rst restaurant,
Big Fish Grill, in Rehoboth Beach,
alongside his brother, Norman, in
1997. Since then, the siblings took
their love of the restaurant industry
and expanded it into one of the state’s
most well-known restaurant groups.
Th e company now includes 15 award-
winning concepts, most of which are
restaurants focused on fresh seafood
and can be found throughout coastal
Delaware and in Wilmington. Th ey
include Big Fish Grill, Trolley Square
Oyster House and Mikimotos. In 2024,
Sugrue signed a deal with Baltimore-
based Atlas Restaurant Group.
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Jeff Bullock
Delaware Department
of State
In 2009, Jeff Bullock was appointed
Delaware’s 80th Secretary of State by
Gov. Jack Markell and reappointed
by Gov. John Carney. He has held the
position longer than any Delaware
Secretary of State in more than two
centuries. Th e state department
contains more than two dozen
agencies and divisions, ranging from
the Division of Small Business; the
Division of Human and Civil Rights;
Delaware Public Archives; Regulation
and Licensing; Division of Arts; the
Division Historical and Cultural Aff airs
and the Division of Corporations. Th e
Division of Corporations’s franchise
tax for incorporating in the state has
drawn in millions to the state spending
plan alone.
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50 DELAWARE 222 | DelawareBusinessTimes.com
50 DELAWARE 222 | DelawareBusinessTimes.com
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50 DELAWARE 222 | DelawareBusinessTimes.com
Xavier Teixido
Harry’s Hospitality Group
Xavier Teixido has been evolving the
Harry’s Hospitality Group brand since
purchasing Harry’s Savoy Grill in
Wilmington in 1993. Over the years,
he expanded the concept to multiple
restaurants, which includes Kid
Shellen’s in Trolley Square. In the early
2000s, he helped bring attention to the
First State restaurant scene during his
tenure as chairman of the National
Restaurant Association. He is an award-
winning hospitality entrepreneur
and past president of the Delaware
Restaurant Association who has served
on other local boards and is also active
in many local charitable causes.
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Colm Connolly
United States District
Court for the District
of Delaware
Th e Honorable Chief Judge Colm
Connolly oversees the federal courts
for the entire state of Delaware.
As Delaware is the home for most
incorporation of most United States
companies, Connolly and other judges
may hear patent and commercial
disputes as well as appeals for
bankruptcy. As chief judge, Connolly
has handled administrative duties for
the court since his appointment in
2021. He also was a law clerk for Judge
Walter K. Stapleton of the U.S. Court
of Appeals for the Th ird Circuit and
also spent seven years as an assistant
U.S Attorney in Delaware. He became
a partner in two diff erent law fi rms in
his career: Morris, Nichols, Arsht &
Tunnell and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius.
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