photo by: Richard Gwin

Sharon Spratt, left, and Mark Buhler, middle, were named Thursday as inductees into the Lawrence Business Hall of Fame. Smitty Belcher, not pictured, was also named as an inductee, as were the late Ross and Marianna Beach. Carrie Edwards, right, spoke for her grandparents, the Beachs, during a brief announcement.

Junior Achievement of Kansas on Thursday named the next five local leaders to be inducted into the Lawrence Business Hall of Fame, and they included a not-for-profit CEO and a couple who prioritized volunteerism and endowment.

The 2016 inductees are Sharon Spratt, CEO of Cottonwood Inc.; Mark Buhler, a partner at Calvin Eddy & Kappelman Insurance and a former state senator; Smitty Belcher, CEO of P1 Group Inc.; and the late Ross and Marianna Beach. Ross Beach was president of Kansas Natural Gas and chairman of the former Douglas County Bank, and Marianna worked to support the arts, those with special needs, and cultural exchange between the U.S. and Latin America.

The laureates will officially go into the Hall of Fame at a tribute dinner on Tuesday, Oct. 18.

photo by: Richard Gwin

Sharon Spratt, left, and Mark Buhler, middle, were named Thursday as inductees into the Lawrence Business Hall of Fame. Smitty Belcher, not pictured, was also named as an inductee, as were the late Ross and Marianna Beach. Carrie Edwards, right, spoke for her grandparents, the Beachs, during a brief announcement.

Hall of Fame Chairman Brad Burnside said those selected all demonstrated a dedication to community service, on top of business success.

“We’re here to recognize these exceptional business people for both their involvement from a community service standpoint as well as their entrepreneurship,” Burnside said.

Junior Achievement also looks at candidates’ courageous thinking, leadership ability, mentorship and lasting benefits (economically and socially) when deciding on inductees.

Buhler, who has also worked for Lawrence Savings Association and Stephens Real Estate, said his induction was “very surprising.”

“When they said that they were selecting me, I said, ‘You’re kidding,'” Buhler said.

A lifelong Lawrencian, Buhler graduated from Lawrence High School and Kansas University, and he’s served on the Lawrence Planning Commission and the Douglas County Commission.

Drawing laughs, Buhler said Thursday: “Obviously, I never got out of Lawrence, so this is all I got.”

“I’m proud of that and honored to have done a lot of things in the town I grew up in,” he said.

The Beachs’ granddaughter, Carrie Edwards, spoke about the couple to the small crowd that had gathered at the Lawrence Country Club for the announcement. She said her grandparents instilled in their family a sense that “being part of a community meant giving back to that community in any way possible, wholeheartedly.”

The Beachs, Kansas State graduates, were longtime Hays residents but retired to Lawrence. Here, they helped establish the Beach Center on Disabilities and funded endowed professorships in special education. They also contributed to the Lied Center, University Theatre, Lawrence Community Shelter, Theatre Lawrence, Lawrence Arts Center, Hall Center for the Humanities, Lawrence Public Library and Lawrence Memorial Hospital.

They received local, state and national awards for their efforts, including each being named “Kansan of the Year.”

Burnside also listed off a number of awards Spratt has received prior to this induction, including the Athena International Award.

“You know, this is a business hall of fame, and we’re a not-for-profit, but we’re really a business, too, and we pride ourselves on that,” Spratt said.

In 1983, Belcher, the final inductee, purchased a business with 30 employees starting with $4 million in revenue. Last year, that business employed more than 1,000 people and touted $220 million in revenue.

Dale Willey, of Dale Willey Automotive, spoke on behalf of Belcher, who wasn’t able to attend. He said Belcher offers “a lot of support to the community” that sometimes goes unnoticed.

P1 — an electrical, mechanical and service contracting company with eight locations — stands for “the genius of many, the power of one,” Willey explained.

This is the seventh year of the Business Hall of Fame, and, after this year’s laureates are inducted, it will comprise 24 members.