Throughout its history, the International Council of Shopping Centers, Inc. (ICSC) has recognized and honored the shopping center industry's most cutting-edge properties, innovative solutions and creative responses to market trends, as well as outstanding examples of design and development throughout the world through its Global Awards programs. According to ICSC, as part of the shopping center industry's premier awards competition, eight shopping centers and two retailers have been named winners in its inaugural U.S. Design and Development Awards competition. ICSC's U.S. Design and Development Awards are designed to recognized outstanding projects for excellence in the creation of new retail projects, and in the expansion or redevelopment of existing projects, solely within the continental U.S. The ICSC U.S. Design and Development Awards competition was open to shopping center owners, developers, management companies, architects, designers, retailers, or other professionals responsible for any retail project or retail store design that demonstrated unusual development or redevelopment characteristics with a high degree of creativity and uniqueness within the continental U.S. The competition focused on four general categories: Innovative Design and Construction of a New Project; Renovation or Expansion of an Existing Project; Sustainable Design; and Retail Store Design. Entries in all four categories must have been completed and opened within the 24-month period of July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2008 to be eligible to win. ICSC unveiled the winners of the inaugural ICSC U.S. Design and Development Awards recently at a gala awards ceremony during the ICSC's CenterBuild Conference, December 2-4, 2009, in Phoenix, Ariz. Winners in the ICSC U.S. Design and Development Awards are automatically eligible to win ICSC's Global "Best-of-the-Best" Award which will recognize the shopping center industry's most outstanding examples of cutting-edge properties, innovative solutions and creative responses to market trends throughout the world. These awards will be unveiled and given during a gala awards ceremony during RECon, ICSC's annual convention, May 23-25, 2010. Founded in 1957, ICSC is the premier global trade association of the shopping center industry. Its 60,000 members in over 80 countries include shopping center owners, developers, managers, marketing specialists, investors, retailers and brokers, as well as academics and public officials.