Meet the WDI Staff
John Hinnant, President & CEO
John is a Wilmington Native graduating from Laney High School. He graduated from Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, NC in 1993.
As a child, John’s mother owned a maternity shop in downtown Wilmington and his father is a contractor who has remodeled several buildings in downtown Wilmington. John was the youngest captain of the youngest crew in the first two RiverFest Raft Races, which were organized by the Downtown Area Revitalization Effort, Inc. (which is now Wilmington Downtown, Inc.)
John was previously involved with Wilmington Downtown as a Board Member in various leadership roles while he owned a restaurant in downtown Wilmington. The restaurant was the Underground Sandwich Shoppe in the basement of the Trust Building.
John began appraising real estate in 2004 and became a Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser in 2006. John became the Executive Director of Wilmington Downtown in June 2007 after the previous director took a job in the private sector. He is married with two young children ages 6 & 9.
During his tenure, WDI has updated the wilmingtondowntown.com website, moved their offices to Front Street, led a strategic planning process, updated the organization's bylaws, and overseen one of the biggest building booms in downtown's history - over 300 milliion dollars. In 2010, he coordinated and hosted the North Carolina Sociable City Forum in association with the Responsible Hospitality Institute. Thirty different communities from North and
Current strategies underway under John’s leadership is the successful development of 500 new hotel rooms in the next five years, the implementation of the Municipal Service District and a comprehensive branding and marketing strategy. Targeted economic development efforts are also underway to recruit more scientific, information, technology and apparel retailers to downtown
Ashley Hanners, Executive Assistant
Ashley moved to Wilmington in 2005 to attend the University of North Carolina Wilmington. She graduated cum laude in 2009 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communication Studies. While in school, she completed internships in the UNCW University Advancement Office of External and Donor Relations and at the Cape Fear Community College Foundation. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the YWCA of the Lower Cape Fear. Ashley has been employed with WDI since February of 2010.