2020 Best of Springfield competition opens for voting

Have a favorite restaurant in town? How about a favorite band or a great spot to take a photo for social media?

If you answered yes, it’s time to put in your vote for the 2020 Best of Springfield competition.

Determined by an online public vote, the competition recognizes the area’s favorite restaurants, attractions, businesses, events and more.

Organized and presented by the Chamber of Greater Springfield and sponsored by Clark Schaefer Hackett, voting for the sixth annual event is open to the public now through Aug. 30. Any business or venue in Clark County is eligible to win.

The Chamber created the competition and its ‘Best Of’ magazine in 2015. Residents and visitors use this publication as a guide to what to see, do, eat and drink in the area. 

“We constantly benchmark against other communities and noticed that most of them we visited had some version of a ‘Best

Of’ magazine. It seemed like a great way to highlight everything that makes our community unique,” the Chamber’s Vice President of Destination Marketing and Communications Chris Schutte says, by email. “Our local businesses really seem to enjoy the competition and help promote the voting via social media, point-of-purchase displays, and even take-out leaflets. The magazine itself is a fantastic promotional tool that not only includes the finalists and winners of each category, but also includes feature content and stories that capture both the history, and forward progress of Springfield.”

This year’s Best of Springfield awards ceremony is tentatively scheduled for Oct. 22 and typically includes interactive elements like wine and beer tasting, “A Taste of Springfield” food booths, and live entertainment, along with the presentation of custom plaques for the winners.

“We’re very hopeful that we will be able to stage a live event in October but will make the awards happen one way or another,” says Schutte, referring to the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Last year more than 3,400 ballots were cast with winners receiving awards in 40 categories. The voting is “open-ended,” meaning you may enter any business of your choice on the ballot.

This year there are 39 different voting categories. Only one set of votes can be cast from each IP address, and voters much respond to at least 10 categories for their votes to count.