The Alabama Business Hall of Fame has announced its newest class of inductees for 2023.

The six are Herman Bulls of McLean, Va., Tom Hough of Atlanta, Phillip McWane of Mountain Brook, James “Jimmy” Rane of Abbeville, Frank Stitt III of Birmingham, and Michael Thompson of Birmingham.

The induction ceremony will take place at Haven in Birmingham on Nov. 9.

Herman Bulls is vice chairman, international director and the founder of Jones Lang LaSalle’s (JLL) Public Institutions practice, which he began to serve governmental and higher education clients.

Born in Florence, Bulls earned an engineering degree from United States Military Academy at West Point in 1978. He was a professor of finance and economics at West Point for three years active duty and 18 years as a reserve officer. He also earned an MBA from Harvard University.

Bulls started his business career when he retired from active duty in 1988, joining JLL and working as a developer and manager of an $800 million portfolio. Bulls is also the founder, president, and CEO of Bulls Advisory Group, a real estate advisory and management consulting firm. He was co-founder, president, and CEO of Bulls Capital Partners, a mortgage finance firm.

Tom Hough largely spent his career working for accounting firm Ernst & Young. Hough graduated summa cum laude from the University of Alabama with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting. He started with EY in 1978 in Cleveland, joining the National Accounting Research Group. He subsequently transferred to the Birmingham office, making partner in 1987.

Hough transferred to New York in 1996, joining EY’s Executive Board. By the time of his retirement in 2014, he was leading EY’s Americas Assurance Practice, serving on the firm’s executive board and a member of the Global Assurance Executive Committee.

Phillip McWane, an Auburn University graduate, is chairman of McWane, Inc., the Birmingham-based manufacturer of ductile iron products such as pipes, hydrants, and other critical goods used in construction and water infrastructure.

He joined the company in 1980 and is the fourth generation to lead the family-grown company, which boasts a 6,000-person workforce located in 25 manufacturing facilities around the globe.

Jimmy Rane is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Great Southern Wood Preserving, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of pressure-treated lumber. 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.

Now, Great Southern Wood Preserving and its YellaWood brand are at the forefront of the wood and preservation industry. He earned his bachelor’s in business administration from Auburn, as well as a J.D. from the Samford University Cumberland School of Law.

Frank Stitt III is the owner and executive chef of Highlands Bar and Grill, Bottega Restaurant, Bottega Café, and Chez Fonfon in Birmingham. Stitt’s culinary journey took shape in San Francisco, and he honed his kitchen skills at various Bay Area restaurants. He eventually made his way back to his home state and in 1982 opened Highlands Bar & Grill, followed by Bottega in 1988, Café Bottega in 1990, and Chez Fonfon in 2000—all in Birmingham.

Highlands Bar & Grill received the James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Restaurant in 2018 after being nominated for the award each year since 2009. Stitt also was inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor, the most distinguished award given to an Alabamian, in 2009.

Michael Thompson is chairman of the board of Thompson Tractor Co., a dealer of heavy earthmoving machinery and engines through the South. He joined Thompson Tractor Co. in 1977 and became president and CEO in 1986. The company is the full-line Caterpillar dealer for Alabama and northwest Florida, and the premier Hyundai forklift dealer for most of Georgia and Central Tennessee.

Thompson’s interest in real estate led him to found Fairway Investments, which has holdings in ten states throughout the Southeast.