ST. GEORGE — With over 200,000 votes already cast across 198 categories and subcategories for more than 1,000 Southern Utah businesses, the community is definitely putting their support behind this year’s “Best of Southern Utah” competition and the opportunity to let their opinions be heard.
“It’s been great,” said President of News Operations Shane Brinkerhoff, noting that of the total votes cast so far, approximately 88,000 were made by individual voters.
He said the response from the people in Southern Utah has been tremendous, and he expects record-setting participation this year when all is said and done.
One week remains for the public to submit their votes for Best of Southern Utah 2020 at BestofSouthernUtah.com. The competition – sponsored by St. George News and Canyon Media – is now in its second year and featuring the new title sponsor House of Hearing.
Canyon Media’s General Manager Ben Lindquist also expressed his enthusiasm regarding the public response.
“I think it just goes to show that the community is excited about this,” Lindquist said.
For 2020, two more main categories have been added, with the full list as follows:
- Activities & Entertainment.
- Business & Services.
- Medical.
- Schools.
- Food & Beverages.
- Shopping.
- General Services.
- Home & Garden.
- Vehicles & Services.
- Lifestyle & Beauty.
Lindquist said the support the competition received in its inaugural year in 2019 was amazing; however, now that everyone knows about it, the whole town has been buzzing with excitement to support the entrepreneurs and business owners in their own hometown.
“The voting has been fun,” he said. “It’s been engaging, and I think ultimately, we’ve provided a format for people to vote on things they really enjoy, whether it’s products or businesses or services – or anything else.”
One thing Lindquist said he has really enjoyed has been seeing last year’s Best of Southern Utah stickers posted at winning businesses all around the region, and this year, he said it has been awesome to hear people chat about who they are voting for each day. Giving people the chance to learn about new places and where to find the best services in the area is what the whole competition is about.
“It’s been fun for us to watch the community take it and really add the momentum to it,” he said.
Voting will conclude on Sunday, with the final results published on the Best of Southern Utah website and in the magazine on June 3. Last year, Canyon Media distributed over 20,000 copies of the magazine with all of the winners. This year they are making the publication bigger and better, printing in a larger 8 1/2-by-11 format and adding several new distribution racks around town.
Brinkerhoff encouraged everyone to pick up their devices and vote as many times as possible for their favorite spots and show their support during this final stretch of the competition.
He said it is much easier for people to make their daily free submissions across all the main level categories each day. Participants can simply click on a category, select a subcategory and then include their vote on the ballot. To make it even easier, every selected category is listed on the side of the page for that day’s submission.
“Get out and vote,” Brinkerhoff said. “Let them know you support their business.”
Resources
- Website: Best of Southern Utah 2020 | Facebook | Twitter @BestofSoUtah | Instagram
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Twitter: @STGnews
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