HOSPITALITY & TOURISM
ASHLEY CHRISTENSEN owner | AC Restaurants Raleigh The Greensboro native and N.C. State University graduate has been named one of the nation’s best chefs multiple times. She temporarily closed her Poole’s Diner and Beasley’s Chicken + Honey amid the pandemic.
JONATHAN FUSSELL president | Duplin Winery Rose Hill Fussell represents the third generation of the winemaking family that opened Duplin in 1972. It produces more than 370,000 cases of wine and welcomes more than 100,000 visitors annually. He started corking bottles while attending UNC Chapel Hill.
RICHARD GEIGER president | Visit Winston-Salem Winston-Salem Geiger has been promoting the Camel City’s virtues for conventions, group tours, meetings and sporting events since he was named president in 2010. Road Runners Club of America named it a Runner Friendly Community, one of only 66 in the country, last year. He’s a State University of New York-Brockport graduate.
RICHARD CHAPMAN
JOHN HARRIS
founder, owner | Bogue Sound Distillery Bogue
president | Kitty Hawk Kites Kitty Hawk
A licensed real-estate appraiser and contractor, the Sanford native embraced his family heritage of distilling when he and his wife, Margaret, fired up a still about five years ago. The Carteret County tourism attraction includes a 1900s grist mill and a museum with a 1923 Ford Model T pickup.
DENNIS ‘DENNY’ EDWARDS president, CEO | Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau Raleigh The University of Northern Iowa graduate oversees about 30 employees and an $8 million annual budget, having led the bureau since 2007. His credentials include similar jobs in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Palm Springs, Calif. Pre-workday motivation: I’m anxious to see what new opportunities we have to bring tourism-related business to Wake County, making it a better place to live and visit.
Pre-workday motivation: Coffee and the beauty of the Outer Banks, where we are headquartered, is reason enough to get the day started. Key to industry success: Customer service, a sense of urgency, building good teams and developing good relationships with vendors, community leaders and others outside the company. Best advice: Hugh Morton, the photographer and nature conservationist who developed Grandfather Mountain, once told me, “If you are blessed, you have a responsibility to give back.” Three people to share a meal: Volodymyr Zelensky, Richard Branson and Elon Musk.
Key to industry success: Monitoring national and international trends to ensure Wake County is delivering what visitors want today and will want in the future.
Proud family accomplishment: They’re good people taking care of themselves and their families independently.
Best advice: Do today what you think you can put off until tomorrow.
Where to entertain a visitor: The Wright Brothers National Memorial and Jockey’s Ridge State Park.
Three people to share a meal: Billy Crystal, Will Ferrell and Steven Spielberg. Proud family accomplishment: Both my sons have a strong work ethic and understand the importance of honesty. We appreciate spending as much time together as we can. I have a beautiful wife who I cherish every day. And I think my 3-year-old grandchild, Owen, is the world’s best grandchild. Favorite hobby: Golf and watching the Green Bay Packers, Chicago Cubs and Iowa Hawkeyes. Where to entertain a visitor: Any of our state museums or craft breweries.
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History says Harris was the first to hang glide from Grandfather Mountain. In the nearly half-century since, he has turned his passion for unpowered flight into Kitty Hawk Kites, selling hang gliders and giving lessons at nearly 20 East Coast locations that employ 350 people. The Missouri University of Science and Technology graduate has been credited with introducing thousands to North Carolina’s coast.
Favorite hobby: Flying.
STEPHEN HILL chair, CEO | Discovery Insurance Co., Hill Realty and Mother Earth Brewing Kinston The heir of a family that owns dozens of nursing homes has pumped millions of dollars into revitalizing the Lenoir County city. He’s a former president of Lenoir Community Council for the Arts. He graduated from Lees-McRae College and attended Appalachian State University.
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