It appears the public and the business community were looking forward to the return of the Readers’ Choice Best of Estevan contest that was offered by Estevan Mercury Publications this year.
The contest appeared in February editions of the Mercury and Southeast Lifestyles newspapers, and on the newspaper’s website, www.estevanmercury.ca. People submitted their votes for the business they thought should win in the various categories.
Nearly 150 categories were included in this year’s competition.
If they submitted more than 25 votes, their name was entered to win one of four $25 gift cards to Mr. Mike’s Steakhouse Casual.
Deanna Tarnes, the sales manager for Estevan Mercury Publications, said thousands of votes were submitted for the contest.
“This year we introduced the online portion so that people could vote on our website,” said Tarnes.
About half of the votes received came in through the website, and half were submitted through the paper ballot.
So many people voted that it took several hours to tabulate all of the votes.
“We had a lot of interest, and a lot of people giving their opinions,” she said.
Tarnes said the idea behind the Best of Estevan is to show the public how many businesses there are in the city, the diversity of many of those businesses and the variety of businesses as well.
“Every need you have can be served locally,” said Tarnes. “You don’t have to go out of town for anything. Anything you ever need, we have at least one business in town that can take care of what you need to buy for products and services.”
While some businesses won more than once, many different businesses in the city captured an award.
“I think it opened a lot of people’s eyes to actually sit down and think about where can I go?’” said Tarnes. “And there is an answer. There is an answer for every category you would want. There is a local solution.”
In turn, she hopes people will support their local businesses.
Local businesses make significant contributions to the community, Tarnes said. They purchase the supplies they need to operate their businesses from their fellow local businesses, and they donate to a wide variety of charitable organizations, service groups, cultural agencies, recreation services and sports teams in the city.
“They are the people who are supporting your kids and your community and donating to everything,” said Tarnes.
Estevan Mercury Publications wants to help the local business community, she said, and the papers are always promoting the need for people to shop locally.
“That’s the Mercury’s goal, is to get you your local news and your local stories on what is happening in the community,” said Tarnes.
A contest like Best of Estevan can remind people of some of the businesses that might have flown under the radar, and of some of the new businesses there are in Estevan.
There are businesses that have had the same owners for many years, some that have changed owners, and some that have opened since 2011.
“It’s been seven years since we did this,” said Tarnes. “Some businesses held their titles, but there are a lot of businesses that have come into the city, and it’s nice to reflect on that.”
While the voting has closed, the promotion associated with Best of Estevan has not. Tarnes encourages people to look for the Best of Estevan logo in the ads for the companies that have won awards.
The Mercury’s website will also have stories on the winners under the Best of Estevan tab.
Best of Estevan was a fun promotion, and the Mercury staff, and the community as a whole, was excited to see it return, Tarnes said. It’s always interesting to see who wins, and how people react to businesses in town.
