A Legacy Framed in Timber
Abbeville, Alabama
While in law school, Jimmy Rane mediated a dispute over his father-in-law’s estate, which led to him taking over a small wood treating business located on the family property. He had planned to sell the machinery, close the business, and become an attorney, but when he couldn’t find a buyer, he became both an attorney and a wood treater in his hometown of Abbeville.
The business that generated a mere $22,000 in sales in 1971 is today known as Great Southern Wood Preserving, Inc., or GSWP, a multi-billion dollar company that is one of the largest manufacturers of pressure-treated lumber in the world. GSWP and its subsidiaries operate 38 locations with a coverage area that stretches from the Florida Keys to Texas to Canada, an area that includes all or parts of 28 states and the District of Columbia, as well as 39 countries, from the Caribbean to China, supplying lumber to do-it-yourself retail home centers, pro dealers, and other retail building-related and industrial segments.
For many years, Rane appeared in his company’s television commercials. A popular series of humorous commercials featured Rane appearing with well-known college football coaches, such as Coach Pat Dye and Coach Gene Stallings. Rane later stepped into a cowboy persona, Yella Fella, to promote the YellaWood® brand of pressure-treated pine products as a character in the Old West.
Rane is chairman, president and CEO of Great Southern Wood Holdings, Inc., a holding company that owns or is affiliated with a diverse portfolio of companies operating in both domestic and international markets in the areas of building products production, manufacturing and distribution, sawmill operations, and transportation and logistics through trucking operations.
Born in 1946, Rane grew up in Abbeville and graduated high school from Marion Military Institute in 1964. He attended Auburn University, earning a bachelor’s in business administration in 1968, then attended Cumberland School of Law at Samford University, graduating with a JD in 1971. He also received an honorary doctor of laws degree from Troy University and has successfully completed a number of leadership programs offered by the Harvard Business School.
In addition to his executive leadership at Great Southern Wood Preserving, Rane has served in various board positions for firms in Alabama and beyond. He is also actively involved in many civic and educational organizations. Among them, he serves on the Auburn University Board of Trustees, on the board of trustees of the Abbeville Methodist Church and the board of directors of the Henry County Historical Group.
The recipient of numerous awards and honors, Rane was named by Marion Military Institute as its Alumnus of the Year in 2007 and was inducted into the Alabama Independent School Hall of Fame in 2009. Rane was named by the Alabama Broadcasters Association as its Citizen of the Year in 2014 and has been recognized three times—in 2015, 2016, and 2018—by i as one of Alabama’s “Power & Influence 50.” In 2016, he received the “Power of Service Award” from the same organization. He was named by the Dothan Landmarks Foundation, Inc., as the recipient of its 2017 Heritage Award, and he was recognized by the Boy Scouts of America Greater Alabama Council in March 2018 as a Heart of the Eagle honoree. He serves on the Alabama Heritage Foundation Board of Directors and is a member of the International Institute of Strategic Studies. In addition, he was inducted into the Dothan Business Hall of Fame in April 2023.
A long-time advocate for the positive role of sports in developing character and providing leadership lessons, Rane was selected by the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame as their 2018 Distinguished American Sportsman and was inducted into the organization during an April 2018 ceremony. In May 2018, he received the Johnny Stallings Award recognizing his work on behalf of those with special needs.
Rane is president of the Jimmy Rane Foundation and, through it, actively works to raise money to fund college scholarships for deserving students. Since its inception in 2000, the Foundation has provided college scholarships to 620 deserving students.
Rane and his wife, Angela, live in Abbeville, where GSWP’s headquarters is still located. They have five children and 13 grandchildren.
