Opportunity Stanislaus, Stanislaus County’s leading economic development organization, is honoring those companies that grew the local economy in 2018 at its annual Celebrate Stanislaus event on Tuesday, March 19. The event is a luncheon and will be held at the Riverbank Industrial Complex to showcase the current and future development at that site.

The event, which will run from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m., will honor dozens of companies that have grown by either 20 employees or 20 percent the past year. It also encompasses the awards for Best Places to Work: Central Valley, a recognition program that celebrates companies designated by employee surveys as being local employers of choice.

“We are very excited to once again host an event that exists solely as a way to say thank you to business,” said Opportunity Stanislaus Chief Executive Officer David White. “We live in a time of growing regulations and burdens for businesses and the fact that our economy is growing at such an impressive rate is a credit to the determination of our local businesses.”

The annual event has a Wizard of Oz theme this year.

“We want people to come and have fun at any of our events and with this one the correlation is the brains, heart, and courage it takes to have a successful business,” White added. “We look forward to gathering the biggest names in local business together to celebrate the economic success of our area.”

Celebrate Stanislaus is presented by Comcast and Stanislaus Food Products with support from additional sponsors including Valley Children’s Healthcare, Cloudy in California and the Riverbank Chamber of Commerce.

General tickets for the event are $35. For more information, contact Amber Edwards at Opportunity Stanislaus at 209-422-6430 or aedwards@opportunitystanislaus.com.