Emily Hocker was voted Coastal Style’s 2022 Best Businesswoman in Sussex County, and she sure has the resume to justify the honor.

Emily was among the first class to graduate from the new Indian River High School, in 1969. The day after her graduation, she married her husband of 52 years, Gerald Hocker. Two years later, she and Gerald purchased a small business together, each owning half the company, and named it G&E Grocery Store. Over the years, the couple expanded and acquired several businesses, all while establishing supreme standards for honesty, integrity and quality at each of them. Together, through their business endeavors, Emily and Gerald made the Hocker name a household word throughout Delaware and beyond.

Fifty years after she opened her first business with five employees, her business portfolio includes two supermarkets, two hardware stores, a convenience store, a food truck/catering business, a car wash, an RV/boat and commercial storage company, a trailer park and several rental properties. She and Gerald employ more than 200 people year-round. Emily also built her business empire while raising five children. She was also recently inducted into the Indian River High School Hall of Fame.

With the success the area had given them, Emily and Gerald wanted to give back to the community. The couple started the annual Springtime Jamboree 39 years ago, which has raised more than $500,000 since its inception for community charities and initiatives.

“She lives her everyday life as an example to us all with her moral character and actions,” said Melissa Hocker-Willey. “Not only did her hard work lead to her own success, but the number of jobs and opportunities she has created in our area for others is another success. I am blessed and so proud to call her my mom.”

Coastal Style readers also voted the Hockers’ Best Family Business in Sussex County and Best Fried Chicken — an honor they’ve now won for the second year in a row.