The state’s only billionaire has named a successor to the company he founded.

Great Southern Wood board chairman Jimmy Rane announced today that Mark Callender, a 34-year veteran of the company, will be elevated to president and CEO on Oct. 1.

Callender will take over daily leadership of the company, while Rane will maintain his role as the company’s chairman of the board.

Rane started his career as an attorney and mediated a dispute over his father-in-law’s estate, which led to him taking over a small wood treating business.

A longtime fixture in Alabama business and Auburn University athletics, Rane gained additional fame as the “Yella Fella” pitch man for his company. Dressed as a cowboy in garish yellow hat and chaps, Rane molded the public face of his company as he grew it into

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