Josh Sprayberry ‘07
Chief Operating Officer at Anchors Marina

Josh Sprayberry graduated Magna Cum Laude from North Georgia College and State University in 2007 and has been a Certified Public Accountant since 2011 founding his own firm in 2012. His practice served clients in the Construction, Manufacturing, and Real Estate Development industries. Josh spent a substantial amount of time working with owners on business strategy to grow and improve their companies which led to several successful exits to private equity groups and publicly traded companies. After building one of the larger CPA firms in South Atlanta, Josh decided in 2019 to merge the accounting firm with another practice to embrace his entrepreneurial spirit.

In 2019, Josh and his wife Lauren began the process of converting a 40-year-old gas station and strip center into a Full-Service Marina on Lake Oconee now known as Anchors Marina. The facility provides storage for almost 300 boaters and offers boat rentals, fuel, and service. In 2022, Anchors Marina expanded to Lake Sinclair with the acquisition and re-development of Bass Boat House and assemblage of 16 acres to build new marina facilities, a restaurant, and future mixed-use development offerings. In September 2024, they are breaking ground on a 141-room Marriott Autograph hotel on Lake Oconee named The Len Resort which will have a 300 seat restaurant, 46,000 sqft pool complex, 7,000 sqft of meeting space, spa, and recreational areas. The Len Resort will also have Anchors Marina’s second location on Lake Oconee and will have 49 Branded Residences for sale with full access to the hotel amenities and concierge service. 

Their contributions to the local community have been recognized by winning the 2017 Small Business of the Year from Griffin Chamber and the 2021 Putnam Chamber Breakout Business Award for best new business. Josh was recently awarded the UNG Distinguished Young Alumni Award in April 2024. 

Kenneth “Lou” Koon, D.Min. is founder of the Intervene Challenge, and author of Listen Learn Lead (a model of suicide intervention). Since 2012 he has served as president of Stop Suicide USA formerly known as Armed Forces Mission.

More than 28,000 individuals have participated in his Intervene Challenge one-day training event to gain the skills that save lives. Clients served include Army Medical Command, Military Intelligence Command, 80th Training Command, 101st Airborne, Sergeants Major Conference, 169th Fighter Wing US AIR FORCE, Homeland Security, Federal Probation Office, Georgia Association of Nurse Educators, Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police, Georgia Sheriffs’ Association, and more than 500 First Responder agencies. He has been heard internationally as a guest on VOICE AMERICA Radio and is repeatedly called upon by faith groups, schools, and civic organizations to empower others with intervention skills.

In 2018 Lou was inducted into the University of North Georgia Alumni Hall of Fame for his work in conducting more than 2,000 successful suicide interventions in both military and civilian communities. In addition to his undergraduate degree from UNG in 1986 he holds a Master of Divinity in Education, and a Doctor of Ministry in Counseling.

He retired from the US Army Reserve at the rank of Lt Colonel in 2021 where he served as a Chaplain and Subject Matter Expert in Suicide Intervention. During his tenure with the 4th Brigade 80th Training Command the unit sustained ZERO suicides for more than eight years across ten states at a time when soldier suicide was double that of the civilian population.

Ken was recently the subject of the Safe and Secure Project, a Public Service Announcement developed by the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and broadcast in theaters throughout the state. He served on the strategic committee in the development of the State of Georgia Suicide Prevention Plan, and as a consultant of Behavioral Health Link in support of the Georgia Crisis and Access Line.

Ken was trained in Clinical Pastoral Education through Piedmont Hospital and is a Master Trainer of several world class intervention models. Additional education includes training through the National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine (NICABM), International Crisis Intervention Stress Foundation, National Alliance on Mental Illness, and the American Association of Suicidology.

His greatest dream is that one day a boy will ask his father, “Dad, what was suicide?”

He and his wife, Sherry have four grown sons, six grandchildren, and make their home in Sharpsburg, Georgia.

To contact Kenneth "Lou" Koon please go to:
Email: ken@ssusa.life
Website: www.StopSuicideUSA.org

Dr. Sandra Clarkson is currently both Professor of Mathematics and Statistics and Ombudsman for Hunter College. She is the former Chair of the Hunter College Senate. She has been on the faculty at Hunter since September 1974. Her doctorate is in mathematics education from the University of Georgia. Sandi has published several papers on teaching mathematics/statistics and co-authored nine college-level mathematics texts and seven books of activities for use in elementary and middle school classrooms.

Nationally, she served as co-Chair of the Joint Committee on Women in the Mathematical Sciences [a joint committee of seven mathematical/statistical societies -- AMS-ASA-AWM-IMS-MAA-NCTM-SIAM]. She currently serves as an evaluator for the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

At Hunter, she co-chaired the college’s self-study for Middle States reaccreditation, chaired the Senate Assessment, Student Standing, and Graduate Course of Study Committees and served on the Mellon committee to re-envision the school’s General Education Requirements. Clarkson received the Hunter College Presidential Award for Excellence in Service in 2001. She and her colleague Bill Williams won the City University of New York’s (CUNY) Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Mathematics Instruction in 2012. She has served as PI or co-PI for grants, totaling more than $600,000, designed to improve instruction in mathematics and statistics.

In her spare time, she completed 20 marathons.