A former Raleigh mayor, a Raleigh restaurant entrepreneur and a Winston-Salem banker turned university professor will all be inducted in to the N.C. Business Hall of Fame next month in Charlotte.
Smedes York (at left), a developer who served as Raleigh mayor from 1979 to 1983, is being honored for his long career as a businessman, philanthropist and community booster.
York is chairman of three companies--McDonald York, York Properties and Prudential York Simpson Underwood--that today employ 600 people.
York will be joined by James Maynard, who along with his partner Bill Carl built Raleigh-based Golden Corral into a chain of 490 restaurants in 42 states that had annual revenue of $1.6 billion in 2008.
The third inductee is John Allison, who led BB&T Bank from $275 million in assets when he joined the firm in 1971 to more than $136 billion today. Allison is today a distinguished professor of practice at Wake Forest's business school.
Allison has also well known for being an enthusiastic advocate of the theories of the philosopher Ayn Rand.
The Hall of Fame's induction ceremony will take place Nov. 5 at The Weston in Charlotte.
Business reporter David Bracken came to the N&O in 2004. He covers commercial and residential real estate. Contact David at 919-829-4548 or