The last time Scott Kammerer saw business partner Matt Haley, he was packing for a six-week humanitarian mission through northern India and Nepal.
Haley – the founder of eight restaurants along the Delaware coast – kept up a stream of conversation while tossing jeans, his signature white shirts, boots, a black coat and a pile of rupees into a bag.
As he had so many times before, Haley asked Kammerer, his right hand man, where he wanted to take the Rehoboth Beach-based Matt Haley Companies, which includes a catering division, a hospitality management firm and a consulting company, along with interests in a winery and olive oil company.
“Do you want it to be good, or do you want it to be great?” Haley asked Kammerer. “Will you sit back? Or will you go hardcore? Do you want this thing to grow?”
Haley, who in May received the James Beard Foundation’s Humanitarian of the Year honor, also asked: “Will you help more people help themselves? Or will you give up when it gets hard?”
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On Aug. 19, Haley died from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident in the craggy Indian mountains. His passing was noted in culinary circles across the nation. (Haley had also received the National Restaurant Association’s 2014 Cornerstone Humanitarian Award and the International Association of Culinary Professionals’ 2014 National Humanitarian Award.)
In Delaware, customers, peers and nonprofit leaders wondered who would fill Haley’s very big shoes. On Sept. 28, at a celebration of Haley’s life at The Freeman Stage at Bayside in Selbyville, Kammerer gave the audience of 2,100 the answer he’d repeatedly told Haley. “I will never give up, and I will never back down,” said Kammerer, now the president and CEO of the Matt Haley Companies. He looked at his coworkers and said: “We are all in.”
A Meeting of the Minds
Kammerer and Haley met in 1999 at an AA meeting at Epworth United Methodist Church in Rehoboth Beach. Haley was new to town. A recovering addict who was rebuilding his life after being released from prison and a habilitation facility in 1994, Haley in his 30s had discovered the restaurant world, which he said in his James Beard Foundation acceptance speech was the only industry to give him a second chance. Kammerer was in his 20s, “staying clean with a new wife, a new baby and no friends.” He made one that day.
Kammerer had worked his way up from washing dishes in Rehoboth restaurant kitchens to becoming the general manager of Jake’s Seafood House. Even before Haley started Redfin Seafood Grill in Bethany Beach in 2001 – which he later renamed Bluecoast Seafood Grill – the duo formed a consulting company. They remained close while their careers took different paths.
Kammerer became the regional food and beverage manager for 37 hotels under the Hilton franchise and then became the corporate trainer for a large restaurant group. “Matt wanted me to go out in the world and get better,” Kammerer said. Never one to mince words, Haley told Kammerer that he was “just average now.” Haley had plans for Kammerer and for that, he needed to be “great.”
In 2004, Kammerer opened Blue Water Grill in Millsboro. (He later sold his share to his partners.) Haley went on to open Fish On in Lewes and NorthEast Seafood Kitchen in Ocean View.
In 2007, Kammerer joined Haley’s company, which was opening a succession of restaurants from Lewes to Fenwick Island. The two complemented each other. Haley was the restless visionary who from an early age liked to delegate. His younger brother Tommy – by 16 months – joked that he was “born with a 1099 in his hand.” He did what Matt told him to do. “I was the first human channel-changer.”
Kammerer is a planner. He has a hurricane plan, a fire plan – he even has a garden plan for his home. He comes to meetings with a written agenda. Haley’s idea of a meeting was sitting in the Adirondack chair in his living room, exchanging ideas over coffee or meeting in a coffee shop.
As Haley began devoting more time to humanitarian efforts both locally and in Nepal, where he’d adopted two orphan girls and helped build schools, Kammerer picked up the reigns.
In 2011, Haley founded the Global Delaware Fund to help those in need locally and abroad. He began traveling extensively for months at a time, both for pleasure and humanitarian work. He also went through two bouts of cancer treatments, the most recent of which ended in early summer. Not surprisingly, Haley put a succession plan in place.
Although Haley remained the prominent face behind the Matt Haley Companies and although he kept his finger on the pulse of the its interests with frequent texts and phone calls, the businesses ran like well-oiled machines in his absence.
A Team Approach
Haley had a knack for spotting talent based on his gut. Clearly, his instincts were spot on. Many people in leadership roles at the Matt Haley Companies have been with the business for some time and worked their way through the ranks. Nothing short of dedication would do for Haley, who in the early days had a temper few wanted to witness.
Doug Ruley, the corporate chef, has been with the company since 2007. Mike Dickinson, director of operations, started with the restaurants in 2005. Jim Affeldt, the second director of operations, started in 2010.
Admittedly, the business is complex, and it’s getting more so. The Global Delaware Fund is its own entity. SoDel Concepts operates the restaurants, Plate Catering and the new food truck, Big Thunder Roadside Kitchen. The Matt Haley Companies is delving into a food line, with sodas and gourmet sea salt already sold in its restaurants. There are remodeling plans for two restaurants, and a bottling facility for the sodas is in the works.
In the days following Haley’s death, the team had to keep noses to the grindstone while dealing with their grief. It was the peak of an already busy summer season. Haley had put a lot of ideas in play, both professionally and personally. The restaurants only closed on Sunday, Sept. 28 for the spirited service at The Freeman Stage, which included music, speeches videos and food from 21 local restaurants.
Kammerer has diligently spent hours in meetings with clients and the many nonprofits and civic leaders concerned about losing Haley, who was generous with time and money. Kammerer, who talked to Haley nearly every day for 16 years, undoubtedly knows what his mentor would want.
“I was supposed to move the company forward,” he told the audience in his speech on that Sunday. “I was the future.”
The future is now, and Kammerer is ready.
