Over 25 companies will be honored at the Stanislaus Business Alliance’s inaugural Celebrate Stanislaus event to recognize businesses that have hired more than 10 employees in the past year.

“The reason we wanted to do Celebrate Stanislaus is to show our appreciation to those companies that are making a difference in the economy by hiring employees,” said Stanislaus Business Alliance CEO David White. “We don’t want to just show our appreciation, but celebrate their success as well.”

While agriculture and food processing are predominant industries in the Stanislaus County, there is a diverse range of businesses that are hiring indicative of a recovering local economy.

“We’ve been tracking unemployment pretty closely and one thing we have noticed is that in the last couple years there does seem to be greater diversification in the economy,” said White.

Noting that the retail, health care and manufacturing industries hiring seem to be on the uptick, White said that the layoffs that took place in the agriculture sector in recent years likely contributed to the increase in employment in other industries.

“In the last couple years there have not been the layoffs we have seen in the past,” said White.

Some of the Turlock companies that will be honored at the Celebrate Stanislaus event include Prime Shine Car Wash, which opened a second Turlock location last fall, Blue Diamond’s Turlock plant, Grocery Outlet, which opened on West Main in September, and family owned grocery store La Perla Tapatia.

Celebrate Stanislaus will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Feb. 26 at the Modesto Centre Plaza. Tickets are $35 and table sponsorships are available. For more information email Marketing and Events Coordinator Suzan Younan at younans@stanalliance.com