Who's that in the winners' circle?
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 9 years, 6 months AGO
Today we unveil the best of the best.
What you won’t find in the 2017 Best of North Idaho special edition, however, is a category that today is glaring in its absence.
Yep: We left out Best Doggone Basketball Team.
And the winner? The Bulldogs of Gonzaga. That they’re not exactly in North Idaho is a small matter we’ll overlook just this once on account of their awesomeness.
Meantime, while we’re all waiting for tomorrow’s tipoff in Glendale, Ariz., there’s much to celebrate here in the greater Coeur d’Alene area. More than 15,000 people cast a pile of votes a mile high: More than 300,000 total. A lot of this year’s winners have won before, which is a pretty good hint that they’re doing something — or a lot of things — better than their competition. Customer service is one of the things voters continually point out as key to earning their support, and that’s on proud display across the board today.
But as we also remind readers each year, the Best of North Idaho competition is a popularity contest, not a scientific experiment with verifiable results. We employ a nationally respected vendor that tracks and tallies contests just like ours. These competitions allow voters to cast ballots more than once, and some voters do exactly that. Others choose only one category or one business they feel deeply passionate about, cast one ballot for that business and don’t return.
It’s all good. Competitions like these do much more than put a bright spotlight on successful local businesses; they increasingly remind all of us that many superb products and services are available right here, without needing to travel to Washington or go shopping online.
On behalf of North Idaho Business Journal, which sponsors the competition, we congratulate all of the 2017 Best of North Idaho winners, who were invited to a party last night celebrating their sterling recognition.
And we remind those who didn’t come out on top this time that there’s always next year.
Unless you’re the Zags, of course. A championship this year wouldn’t hurt a bit.