ROCKFORD (WIFR) -- A litigator, a legislator and a tool maker... that's your Rockford Business Hall of Fame Class of 2012.

At the Rockford Chamber Founders Day Celebration Wednesday at Midway Village; R.K. Welsh, Congressman Don Manzullo and Ernest Estwing were honored for their commitment to business in Rockford.

Welsh was a lawyer who established a law office in 1889 in Downtown Rockford that today is known as Holmstrom and Kennedy. While Estwing started his hammer manufacturing company in 1923 and almost 90 years later Ernest Estwing's grandson, Marty Tucker is now the CEO of Estwing and he says manufacturing is still going strong.

"Ernie was a very strong man. He was strong in mind and strong in body. He wasn't going to quit. And that's what it takes His legacy lives on through his strength and ability to pull people together and do things. He was a wonderful man," Tucker said.

The Founders Day Event at Midway Village celebrated the Chambers 102nd Anniversary.