ST. GEORGE — Nominations for the “Best of Southern Utah” are in, and with official voting having started Monday, nearly 1,000 businesses are now competing for the title of best of the best in Southern Utah.
For the first time ever, Canyon Media, the parent company of St. George News, in partnership with Intermountain Audiology, is offering the community the chance to vote for their favorite businesses – from coffee shops to auto mechanics, art galleries to pool maintenance – to see who will be awarded Best of Southern Utah.
“We want it to be a reflection of the best companies in Southern Utah – the best businesses, the best customer service, the best products, the best food,” Ben Lindquist, general manager of Canyon Media said, adding that readers nominated nearly 1,400 businesses during the nomination period between Jan. 28 and Feb. 13.
Of those nominations, 924 companies officially made it on the ballot to compete. And now it’s up to the community members to make the final determination.
In a world where online reviews can sometimes hurt an otherwise excellent business or product, Canyon Media has decided to give locals the chance to determine which businesses are the best in the unique Southern Utah community.
“We have a really unique collection of businesses, products and services,” Lindquist said. “It’s been fun to play our part in helping the community figure out who’s the best of the best. What are the best products here? Who are the best restaurants here? What’s the best dentist … the best lawyer? What’s the best of everything in Southern Utah?”
Voting began Monday and will remain open until March 15 at 5 p.m. Winners will be announced May 20 both online and in a winners publication to be distributed around Southern Utah.
Voting takes place at BestofSouthernUtah.com. Businesses are listed under eight main categories and 190 subcategories. The main categories are:
- Eat and drink.
- Health and beauty.
- Home and garden.
- Motors.
- Professional services.
- Schools.
- Shopping.
- Things to do.
Each category has a minimum of four qualified businesses for voters to choose from, and most categories have eight or nine listed.
Voters are allowed to vote for one business per category, per day. Once a ballot is submitted, voters can come back after 24 hours and vote again, even for the same business.
“We have set it up this way to prevent voter fraud and manipulation,” Lindquist said, but reminded readers that even though they can only vote once a day, voting is always free.
To further ensure fairness and accuracy, Canyon Media has partnered with Nerus Strategies, LLC, an Oregon-based company that has helped put on the well renowned “Best of Las Vegas” and “Best of Branson” programs.
“They’re really skilled in making sure that the promotion itself is fair, that it’s run correctly,” Lindquist said.
Businesses that are on the ballot have the opportunity to promote their nomination to customers and encourage them to vote for them. Canyon Media is offering both free and sponsored promotional materials to businesses, including links, website badges, social media resources, radio spots, video advertisements and more, which can be found at BestofSouthernUtah.com under the promotions tab.
Lindquist said the hope is that businesses will take the initiative to promote their business and encourage their customers to vote, whether through sponsored promotion or just word of mouth. Winners will receive a certificate to display in their business, as well as a listing in the winner’s publication so that customers, whether locals or tourists, can feel confident that they are receiving the best service in town.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for the community to have their voice heard on the things that they love,” Lindquist said.
Resources
- Website: Best of Southern Utah 2019 | Facebook | Twitter @BestofSoUtah | Instagram
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