JOHNSTOWN — William Polacek, CEO and founder of JWF Industries, and chairman of the 2012 Greater Johnstown/Cambria County Business Hall of Fame Awards Ceremony, recently announced the names of the 2012 laureates during a press conference at JWF Industries.

The 2012 induction ceremony will be held on April 27 at the Frank J. Pasquerilla Conference Center, with a reception at 6:15 pm and dinner at 7 pm. The event is co-sponsored by the Greater Johnstown/Cambria County Chamber of Commerce and Junior Achievement of Western Pennsylvania.

For more information, contact the Chamber at 536-5107 or Junior Achievement at 266-2125.

“The Business Hall of Fame was founded on the principle that truly successful leaders are deserving of recognition not only for what they have achieved professionally, but for what they have given back to our community,” Polacek said. “The 2012 laureates exemplify all of the qualities we strive to honor with this award.”

This year’s event is the 21st annual Business Hall of Fame event, which was established in 1992 to honor local business leaders, past and present, who have made significant contributions to the economic and civic well-being of the Greater Johnstown/Cambria County region.

Honorees are nominated by area business people using these criteria:

• Laureates must be area natives or have made their contribution to this area
• The contribution must be outstanding and enduring to our business community
• Laureates must no longer be active in the business position in which their contribution was made, or must have reached 70 years of age.

The 2012 honorees are: Ed Cernic Sr., Russell J. Gramlich and Edward W. Kane. Here’s a biography on each laureate:

Ed Cernic, Sr., founder of Cernic’s, Inc.

Cernic is a graduate of Johnstown High School and Vale Tech Institute.

He served in the Naval Reserve from 1951-1953 and served in the U.S. Army during the Korean Conflict from 1953-1955.

Cernic’s beginnings as a business owner were with Cernic’s Custom Service, an auto repair/gas station/auto body shop. He established Cernic’s Suzuki in a one-room shop in Johnstown in 1969 with one full-time employee. In 1973, his son, Ed Cernic, Jr., joined the business full-time.

The business grew, but suffered major losses in the Johnstown Flood of 1977.  Undeterred, the Cernics rebuilt at the same location, and in 1980 his son Jeff joined the business full-time.

In addition to rebuilding his own business, Mr. Cernic served as chairman of the Tanneryville Flood Recovery from 1977-1979, assisting with raising $125,000.  He was also co-chairman of the Southern Allegheny Flood Recovery Association.

In 1991, Honda products were added to the inventory, and motocross racing became a focus. Cernic’s sponsored many national champion motocross riders throughout the 90s and beyond, helping more riders to reach the professional ranks than any other motorcyclist company in the country.

Continued growth led to additional locations in Duncansville in 2001 and Somerset in 2005, and most recently, a modern, 16,000-square-foot facility in Geistown that allows customers more convenience and selection. To better serve their customers, they  consolidated the Somerset operation with the Geistown location and established the dealership offices on the second floor of the new building.  With this growth Cernic’s also expanded their number of brands, now carrying KTM, Kawasaki and Yamaha as well as Suzuki and Honda and are one of Pennsylvania’s largest motorcycle dealers.

In addition to Cernic’s, from 1982-1984 Cernic owned Nan-Phil Corp., a nail manufacturing company, and from 1973-1977 he owned Pleasure Valley Raceway.

Cernic has had a lifelong dedication to Cambria County and he has always been active in public and community service.  He was Gov. Ed Rendell’s liaison in the 12^th Congressional District, and was appointed by the governor to the Pennsylvania Transportation Commission in 2006. He was honored by Rendell with an Ed Cernic Picnic Day at the Governor’s Mansion in 2008 for his community leadership, and has met with Presidents Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton at the White House when promoting projects for Cambria County.

A veteran of the U.S. Army and Naval Reserves, he has been honored with the Chapel of the Four Chaplains Legion of Honor Award and is a member of the Defense Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC) Community Advisory Board; the Veteran Community Initiatives, Inc. Board; the Chapel of the Four Chaplains 2012 Selection Committee; the Pennsylvania Disabled Veterans Rehabilitation/Vocational Retraining Project, the John P. Murtha Memorial Statue Committee; the American Legion; Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Korean War Veterans.

He serves on the Cambria County Airport Authority and has served on the Greater Johnstown Water Authority Board for 20 years.  He also serves on the board of SKILLS, Inc and is a member of the Greater Johnstown Utility and Development Corporation.  He served on the AmeriServ Financial board for 10 years and the AmeriServ Advisory Board for 22 years.  He is a member of the Cambria City Mission Board, Johnstown Lodge F & AM #538, the Masonic Lodge, Jaffa Shrine and is a charter member and two-term president of the Johnstown West End Lions Club.

Russell J. Gramlich joined MetLife in 1958 as a management trainee in the Personal Insurance Department.

He advanced through positions of increasing responsibility and, in 1989, was appointed vice president of operations in MetLife’s Brokerage Department.  He assumed his position as vice president in Johnstown in 1993, beginning as a member of the original Johnstown Management Team. He started with 35 employees and built the organization to more than 500 employees with an operating budget of $25 million and was instrumental in retaining jobs in Johnstown during a corporate restructuring.

He retired in 1998 as vice president of the Johnstown Administrative Office.

Since his retirement, Gramlich has continued his active involvement in community organizations.

He is vice chairman of the Pennsylvania Highlands Community College Board of Trustees and president of Windber Country Club. He is also past president of the Cambria County War Memorial Authority and former executive director of the Greater Johnstown Regional Partnership. He has also served as secretary-treasurer of the Pennsylvania Highlands Community College Board of Trustees; president of the Greater Johnstown Regional PAC; treasurer of JARI and chairman of both the Greater Johnstown Committee and the Cambria County War Memorial Authority. He served as president of the board of directors of the Greater Johnstown Community YMCA and on the boards of the Greater Johnstown/Cambria County Chamber of Commerce, the United Way of the Laurel Highlands and the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown.

Gramlich was also involved with the Cambria County Master Plan Taskforce, the Johnstown Renaissance Partnership and the Cambria County Alliance for Business and Industry.

He earned a bachelor of arts in history from Pace University in 1966.

Edward W. Kane is a native of Johnstown and a graduate of Johnstown High.

He also attended the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, where he edited the college paper and was a member of the Phi Theta Kappa National Honorary Scholastic Fraternity.

He began his career as a reporter for the The Johnstown Democrat and The Tribune-Democrat from 1947-1952, then was a U.S. Marine Corps correspondent from 1953-1955. He was an editor, reporter and columnist for the Pittsburgh Press from 1955-1963, followed by a position with the Louisville Courier-Journal, where he was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

Kane was also honored with awards from the Pennsylvania Newspaper Publishers Association as well as for national advertising campaigns.

He served as press secretary for Indiana Gov. Ed Whitcomb and worked at McGill-Ross Advertising Agency in Indianapolis before returning to Johnstown to open Kane & Company Advertising and Public Relations, which he owned from 1970-1997.

There he was the publicist for the Ned’s Head books, which were authored by Dr. Ron Madison of Johnstown, as well as the director of advertising and public relations campaigns for community clients such as the Penn Traffic Company, Sanitary Dairy, Crown American Corp.; George Zamias, Friendly City Federal Savings and Loan, First United Federal Bank, Calandra Industries, Somerset Trust Company, Wolf Furniture, Grandview Cemetery, the Greater Johnstown School District  and the City of Johnstown.

Kane also served as communications director for Johnstown after the 1977 flood, and recruited a number of national TV performers, including the cast of “All My Children,” to raise money for flood victims. Kane also handled communication with national press, TV and radio systems, which in turn resulted in contributions to help flood victims.

He also directed advertising and public relations campaigns for elected officials, including Congressman John P. Murtha, State Senators Mark Singel and William Stewart, State Reps. Pat Gleason, Ed Wojnarowski and Bryan Barbin; Mayors Herb Pfuhl, Don Zucco and present Mayor Tom Trigona, Cambria County Judges G Long, Dave Tulowitzki and Pat Kiniry; Cambria County Commissioners Ron Stephenson, Kathy Holtzman, Ted Metzgar and numerous city office and county row candidates.

Kane was heavily involved in community activities.  He is a former chairman of the Downtown Business and Professional Division of the Greater Johnstown/Cambria County Chamber of Commerce and a former member of the Chamber’s board of directors.  He was one of the organizers of the Christmas Village in downtown Johnstown, the building of the Central Park Gazebo and the Saint Patrick’s Day Parade for many years.

Kane directed the campaign for consolidation of Johnstown and neighboring communities in 1970, organized the Johnstown High School Alumni Association and served on the board of the Johnstown Catholic Athletic Association. He is a former Legion Commander of Post 712, American Legion, Pleasant Hills; a member of Post 294, American Legion, Johnstown; a member of the Elks and the Harmonie Club in Johnstown’s Eighth Ward and a former council member of Visitation BVM Catholic Church.

Kane also served on the Pitt-Johnstown Alumni Association Board of Directors and was vice chairman of the Johnstown Chapter of the Pitt Golden Panth