Best of the Flathead is back

It’s time to decide the Flathead Valley’s best businesses in 2018.

The Daily Inter Lake is once again sponsoring the Best of the Flathead competition, a people’s choice contest in which citizens vote for their favorite restaurants, real-estate agents, physical therapists, coffee joints, hair stylists and more.

“This is the 17th annual edition of the Best of the Flathead, which is one of our most anticipated publications every summer,” said Frank Miele, managing editor of the Inter Lake. “The title ‘Best of the Flathead’ has become a valued brand for anyone lucky enough to win it. That’s because it signifies that you have earned the respect of real people in the community. Thousands of people vote in our contest, and it just gets bigger every year.”

This year’s contest will be slightly different from previous versions, said Anton Kaufer, the Inter Lake’s advertising director. The competition will take place in two phases, much like a primary election and a general election.

The first phase is nominating businesses, places or people. That phase begins today, when you can go to Best of the Flathead through the menu bar at www.dailyinterlake.com and nominate your favorites in any of 202 categories.

The nomination process will be open from June 7 to June 21. Daily Inter Lake staff will then take one week to “vet” the nominees to make sure they are in the right category. Once the vetting is completed, the 10 leading nominees in each category advance to the next phase. Voting for the finalists will take place from June 26 to July 8. During both phases, readers can only vote once per category.

Several new categories have been added this year, including best new business, best entrepreneur and best holistic health-care services.