Best of the Best WHAT A SUCCESS!

Megan Keller Advertising Director

Local matters. That’s one thing I think our entire community can agree on. Whether you are in the Woodland neighborhood, Hermantown or Lincoln Park, our community thrives on shop local, be local, and contribute to local. In today’s world, we see shifts where it is becoming more challenging to hold on to our community engagement, our local commitment and what local means. Here at the Duluth News Tribune, local does matter. The Duluth News Tribune has been here for 150 years. As we evolve, one thing will never change and that is our focus on our community, the importance of journalism, and you. This contest is a driver to really bring out the best in our community from the eyes of our community!

This was our 3rd Annual Best of the Best contest, but this year we wanted to take this a step further and celebrate our top three finalists with a special event, held Wednesday, Aug. 28 at the Clyde Malting Building. The results we received were so impressive, all of our nominees have some very passionate customers. This year we had 64,000 nominations, 195,000 votes and 17,094 people participate in nominations and voting. If that doesn’t say local matters I don’t know what does.

I had the honor and the privilege to announce all 352 finalists. Our event began with a social where you could get food and beverage samplings from Lakeside Liquor, Super One Liquor, Hoops Brewing, Ruth’s Vegetarian Gourmet, Castle Danger, Barkers Island, Cash Wise Liquor, Texas Roadhouse, Ursa Minor, Keyport Liquor and Black Woods catering. Our booth vendors sure came with their A game! During our social, we had incredible performances by The Northwoods Band, Laura Velvet, and Zenith City Groove Collective, who were all finalists in our top 20 local bands. Needless to say, the event hit all the senses!

Once the doors opened at 4:30 p.m., the crowds started rolling in. More than 500 attendees later, the place was packed! We were fortunate to have a great partnership with the Clyde Malting Building, who was able to house our event. If you haven’t seen this facility, you should go see it. It’s a beautiful site and has that Duluth industrial appeal.

Thank you to everyone who participated in our 3rd Annual Best of the Best Contest, because without you we could not have hosted this celebration. Congratulations to all of our finalists - this year’s contest was very competitive, with more than 4,000 nominees across 118 categories. Placing in the top three is a victory! In this special section, you will find the top three finalists in every category, photos from the event, and stories on how some of our finalists felt about competing in this contest.

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