Page 110 - Innovation Delaware 2018

HOSPITALITY/TOURISM
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
SoDel Concepts
COMPANY TO WATCH
Visitors could spend a week
at the Delaware beaches and dine at one of SoDel Concepts’ restaurants each day. That’s because the hospitality group owns 10 eateries, from Lewes to Fenwick Island.
While the company has never shied away from rapid growth, it’s been on a fast track since 2016, when a second Matt’s Fish Camp opened
in Lewes. In 2017, a second Bluecoast Seafood Grill + Raw Bar opened in a new building in Rehoboth Beach. During that time, the company also took over The Clubhouse at Baywood, the restaurant and banquet facility on the grounds
108 DelawareBusinessTimes.com
of Baywood Greens Golf Course in Millsboro.
The team accomplished all of this while coping with the sudden loss of the well- known founder, Matt Haley. Haley, who’d just received the James Beard Foundation’s philanthropy award, died from injuries suffered in a motorcycle crash in August 2014.
Led by SCOTT KAMMERER, who became the company president, the managers
and chefs kept the business running smoothly. In Haley’s honor, SoDel Concepts started SoDel Cares, a foundation that donates to causes that improve
SCOTT KAMMERER
the lives of local children, seniors and others who are at risk.
Philanthropy is also part of each restaurant’s mission. “We partner our restaurants with nonprofits, so they can forge relationships with the people in need,” says NELIA DOLAN, the director of marketing. “We provide opportunities for our SoDel family to be active in our communities in
NELIA DOLAN
a positive way.”
The company engages
with the community in other respects. “Delaware’s size lets us build one-on- one relationships with the governor, U.S. senators, local representatives, educators and our local and state police force,” says Kammerer.
SoDel Concepts’ catering division, Plate Catering,
has handled the governor’s
PAMELA AQUILANI/COURTESY OF SODEL CONCEPTS
PAMELA AQUILANI/COURTESY OF SODEL CONCEPTS