JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – The 32nd annual Greater Johnstown/Cambria County Business Hall of Fame induction honored the legacy of six local business people and supported causes to shape the area’s youth into future leaders.
The induction dinner Friday at The Willow in Richland Township raised funds for the local Junior Achievement program and the Cambria Regional Chamber of Commerce’s leadership program for youth. About 340 people attended.
Hall of Fame inductees R. Jeffrey Kimball, John Kimball, Ann Kimball Balazs, James Hargreaves, Robert Bantly and Joe Fortunato were honored as exemplary leaders in business and community service.
Since 1992, the Hall of Fame selection committee has chosen honorees based on a few criteria: they must be area natives or have made outstanding and enduring contributions to the area, and they must no longer be active in business or be 65 years of age.
Bantly is the owner of Johnstown hardware store Bantly Hardware, which has been in operation since 1861. He continues to work part-time at his business.
He was a Navy electronics technician and air/sea rescue swimmer during the Vietnam War. He went to work for his father at Bantly Hardware Co. in 1971. The business survived the 1977 Johnstown flood, and in 1981, Bantly purchased the business, tripling its sales territory and inventory.
Fortunato is the owner of American Insurance Marketing Group and The Health Insurance Place. He came to Johnstown in 1974 from the Pittsburgh area.
He opened Bagel Mania in downtown Johnstown on July 19, 1977. By the next morning, it was destroyed by the waters of the 1977 flood.
In 1979, Fortunato obtained his life, health and annuity licenses and later established American Insurance Marketing Group LLC as a full-service life, health and annuity agency. Following the Affordable Care Act in 2010, he expanded the scope of the agency to include a walk-in center offering guidance to those impacted by the new health insurance law.
The agency has roughly 30,000 policy holders and employs 15 people. More than 400 independent brokers wholesale products through his agency.
Hargreaves’ investment career spanned 46 years, ending in 2019 as senior vice president with Morgan Stanley. He was a member of the Westmont Hilltop school board for 18 years and has also served on boards for the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra, Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center and the 1889 Foundation.
The Kimball siblings honored Friday are three of nine children of L. Robert Kimball, founder of L. Robert Kimball & Associates and 2007 Business Hall of Fame laureate.
John Kimball has 53 years of experience serving as owner and senior vice president of the company. He has served on the boards or as an adviser to Junior Achievement, UPMC Diabetes Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Education, Pennsylvania Highlands Community College, the Johnstown-Cambria County Airport Authority and on the Ebensburg Community Development Advisory board.
Jeff Kimball, former president and chief executive officer of L. Robert Kimball & Associates, currently serves as adviser and coach for companies in a wide range of industries. He advises CEOs, executive teams and boards of directors. His consulting business serves multi-generational family-owned businesses.
Jeff Kimball has served on community and nonprofit boards including Mainline Bancorp, Johnstown Area Regional Industries, and the Community College Foundation Board. He also assisted in the formation of AYSO youth soccer in Ebensburg and has coached youth basketball for more than 60 years.
Ann Kimball Balazs is the former senior vice president of architecture and engineering, and has served as a director on boards of several organizations including Conemaugh Valley Memorial Hospital, Laurel Bank, First National Bank of Pennsylvania, Mount Aloysius College and the American Red Cross.
The six inductees Friday join more than 120 people inducted to the Greater Johnstown/Cambria County Hall of Fame since 1992.
