For more than two decades, this prestigious event has honored individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to the local community, as well as the projects that have helped create jobs and advance economic development in the Lehigh Valley.

That tradition will continue on October 9, when the 22nd Annual March of Dimes Commercial and Industrial Real Estate Awards will be held at the DeSales University Center in Upper Saucon Township. Register here.

The prestigious program honors an outstanding individual, company, or entity whose commercial and industrial real estate activities have enhanced the region. Additionally, an award is presented to a commercial/industrial project that has made a significant impact on the Lehigh Valley economy.

Leslie Morrone is this year’s chairwoman of a committee comprised of commercial and industrial real estate professionals in the Lehigh Valley, which organizes the event along with the March of Dimes. Morrone said this is a particular honor for her because she and her family experienced the contribution of the March of Dimes to women with at-risk pregnancies and pre-term babies.

“The Lehigh Valley NICU was our home for a very long four weeks, complete with information, support and state of the art medical advancements made in part by your donations to the March of Dimes,” Morrone said. “I can’t think of better way to say thank you than spearheading this year’s campaign through the Commercial and Industrial Real Estate Awards committee.”

This year, the Real Estate Project of the Year will be presented to Ocean Spray Cranberries, which last year finished construction on a 300,000 square-foot bottling facility in Upper Macungie Township.

The $110 million plant employs 180 people and bottles Ocean Spray juices, as well as Nestle’s Juicy Juice products. Ocean Spray, the number one cranberry juice and cranberry foods maker in the world, is estimated to produce about 32 million cases of product annually at the facility.

Additionally, the Real Estate Individual/Organization of the Year will be awarded to Liberty Property Trust, the largest and most active industrial developer in the region who has been a long-standing, consistent, and positive real estate presence in the Lehigh Valley.

Most recently, Liberty Property Trust built over 2-million-square-feet of industrial warehouse facilities in Bethlehem’s Lehigh Valley Industrial Park VII, which have been leased to Wal-Mart and zulily for the e-commerce businesses. Nearly 1,000 jobs are expected to be created as a result.

Corporate sponsorship opportunities are still available for the March of Dimes Commercial and Industrial Real Estate Awards. For more information, or to RSVP for the event, contact Tracy Trapp, March of Dimes senior community director, at 610-814-7002 or via email.

National Penn Bank is the event’s presenting sponsor for the 11th consecutive year.

The leading nonprofit organization for pregnancy and baby health, the March of Dimes works to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality.

Below is a list of previous recipients of the Real Estate Project of the Year:

• 2002: Route 33 extension project
• 2003: PPL Plaza
• 2004: St. Luke’s Union Station
• 2005: Lehigh Valley Hospital Muhlenberg
• 2006: Olympus America Headquarters
• 2007: Integrated Health Campus
• 2008: Coca-Cola Park
• 2009: Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem
• 2010: STEPS Building Lehigh University
• 2011: SteelStacks
• 2012: St. Luke’s University Health Network, Anderson Campus
• 2013: 20^th Anniversary, honored past 20 years of award recipients
• 2014: PPL Center

Below is a list of previous recipients of the Real Estate Individual/Organization of the Year:

• 1994: The late Donald B. Stabler, Stabler Companies Inc.
• 1995: Lehigh Valley Industrial Park, Inc. and its founders
• 1996: Jaindl Land Company
• 1997: The late Willard G. Rouse III, Liberty Property Trust
• 1998: William S. Hecht, PPL Utilities, Inc.
• 1999: Lehigh Valley Planning Commission
• 2000: Duane Dunham, Bethlehem Steel Corp.
• 2001: The late Walter Dealtrey, LVIP
• 2002: Grover H. Stainbrook, LVIP
• 2003: The late Dr. Robert Kopecek, Northampton Community College
• 2004: Lee A. Butz, Alvin H. Butz, Inc.
• 2005: Robert A. Spillman, Spillman Farmer Architects
• 2006: Louis K. Pektor III, Ashley Development Corp.
• 2007: Jim Petrucci, J.G. Petrucci Company, Inc.
• 2008: Richard Thulin, Arcadia Properties, LLC
• 2009: Jeffrey P. Feather, National Penn Bancshares, Inc.
• 2010: Joseph A. Fitzpatrick, Jr., Fitzpatrick, Lentz & Bubba
• 2011: David M. Jaindl, Jaindl Land Company
• 2012: Donald D. Frederick, Principal Investments & The Frederick Group
• 2013: 20th Anniversary, honored past 20 years of award recipients
• 2014: CREW Lehigh Valley, Commercial Real Estate Women Network