James grew up in Johnstown NY, and followed his four siblings into the local school system before moving to, and ultimately graduating from, Niskayuna NY. After graduating with a BS in Finance from Siena College, James initiated his career in Community and Economic Development in 2018 when he was hired as the Membership Coordinator at the Fulton Montgomery Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Through this position, James reacquainted himself with local organizations that positively impacted the Southern Adirondacks and Mohawk Valley Regions and took early notice to The Glove. He joined the board in 2018 as Treasurer and served as the Glove was working to reinvent itself leading up to March 2020, when the theatre shuttered for 16 months due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In August of 2021, James was appointed as President of the Board of Directors was ultimately re-elected twice in two consecutive years.

Mr. Hannahs continued to serve in economic development as the Downtown Gloversville Development Specialist, where he focused on facilitating public and private business and community development projects in Downtown Gloversville, including the Hometown Heroes Banners which adorn Main Street and launching the yearly summer Food Truck Fridays program. Working as the leading economic development agency advocating for Downtown Gloversville, James assisted the City in applying for New York State’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative, focused on project and application development. He contributed the City’s $15 million in requested allocations across roughly a dozen projects with the Glove Theatre Renovations standing as the application’s capstone. In December 2022, Governor Kathy Hochul traveled to the Glove Theatre to announce successful DRI projects and ultimately awarded The Glove with $1.993 million in renovation funding, roughly $35,000 higher than the initial ask. In May 2023, The Glove was awarded another $2 million to fund additional renovations through the RestoreNY program, an application James was instrumental in assembling.

James now serves as the Director of Economic Development for Greene County, NY, and continues to practice the decorated skill-set curated through his time at the Chamber, Fulton County Center for Regional Growth, and The Glove Theatre. He currently resides in Cairo, NY with his two cats, Martha and Cindy.