The Journal of Business has selected its 2021 class of Business Icons, who will be honored at a virtual event on May 5.

This year’s honorees are:

•Judy Cole, former Avista Corp. executive;

•Rich Hadley, former CEO of Greater Spokane Incorporated;

•Dr. Harold and Marcia Mielke, owners of Arbor Crest Wine Cellars;

•Marilyn Thordarson, former public relations executive at Sacred Heart Medical Center;

•Dick and Carol Wendle, former owners of Wendle Ford.

The Journal selected award recipients from nearly 50 nominations received from Journal readers in recent months. To be eligible, Icon honorees have to be over 70 years old and retired or no longer involved in day-to-day operations in careers in which they spent the bulk of their time in the Inland Northwest. Also, because the awards aren’t given posthumously, recipients must be living.

The current cohort marks the third class of Icons recognized by the Journal.

The inaugural Icons class involved David Clack, formerly of Old National Bank; Harlan Douglass, of Douglass Properties; LeRoy Nosbaum, of Itron Inc.; Paul Redmond, formerly of Washington Water Power, now Avista Corp.; Larry Stanley, formerly of Empire Bolt & Screw Inc.; and Bill and Judi Williams, formerly of Telect Inc.

In 2020, the Journal honored Larry Brown, founder of The Onion Restaurant and Frank’s Diner; Phil Kuharski, former executive at Fidelity Mutual Savings Bank; Pam Senske, former CEO of R.A. Pearson Co., now Pearson Packaging Systems; John Stone, co-founder of SRM Development Co.; and Tom Tiffany, former CEO of Pathology Associates Medical Laboratories.

Icons is the first of five events the Journal plans to host this year, in addition to its new, monthly Elevating The Conversation webcasts. Upcoming events are Women in Leadership, in June; Rising Stars, in September; Best Places To Work, in October; and Workforce Summit, in November. Whether those events will be in person or virtual will determined in the coming months.