Third Year Best Of Northwest Arkansas Contest Breaks Records

The Best of Northwest Arkansas for 2020, presented by Bassett Home Furnishings of Fayetteville has recently released the results of the 2020 contest.

It is the one time of year they ask their audience “who do you think is the best?” And this year, they had record-breaking participation. An undertaking of this size takes a team of talented individuals, lead by President Brent A. Powers. They also had a presenting sponsor for this year’s contest, Bassett Home Furnishings of Fayetteville.

Best of Northwest Arkansas has become the most comprehensive look at the 569 businesses and individuals that their newspaper and digital audience voted as the best for the services they provide to the area, residents, and visitors. There are a total of 738 awards being presented in 246 sub-categories.

Engagement with this year’s contest was over three times greater than last year, with last year being three times greater than the year before. They had 5,193 nominations in 246 categories. Competition was much higher this year, with only 17% of the nominated companies and individuals finishing in the top three of their categories. There were 72% more businesses and individuals competing this year when compared to the 2019 contest. That is 3,288 hoping to be voted best. More than ever, earning a spot in the top three is a great accomplishment.

NERUS Strategies, LLC is in the third year of powering the contest. All voting was conducted digitally, with 73% of the voters casting their ballots from a mobile device. “We had 241,156 ballots cast, delivering 640,473 votes cast, more than double last year! Over 177,000 unique voters participated in the contest” comments Neil Potter.

Overall, 98% of the voters were from North America. Of those voting in North America, 68% were from Fayetteville, Bentonville, Rogers, Springdale, or Bella Vista.

This year, they added Agribusiness to the mix with an Agriculture category. It joins the other eight: Eat & Drink, Health & Beauty, Home & Garden, Services, Motors, Schools, Shopping, and Things to Do. We hope you visit our digital destination BestNWA.com now in its third year. Year-round you can find more about this year’s winners and past winners. We now have our ‘Red Star Ratings’ for all of our winners, the opportunity to rate and review your favorites all year long at BestNWA.com.

“I can’t think of a more vibrant, resilient place in America than Northwest Arkansas” says Brent A. Powers, President of the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the multi-media company that is the overarching media partner. “The great pandemic of 2020 has been a challenge for everyone. Here at home, as a community, we have been finding new ways to conduct business, to be supportive to employers and employees, and to be responsible in our response to the health crisis. Especially in such a difficult year, we could not be prouder to salute and pay tribute to the great businesses that were voted the Best. Thank you to all the folks that took the time to vote.”

We encourage you to engage with us online at www.nwaonline.com and through a subscription to the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

 Congratulations to the winners.