Nominate favorite 2017 businesses

Thousands of central Ohioans nominated their favorite businesses for recognition last year in the inaugural Dispatch Cbus Top Picks contest.

In the end, fans cast more than 185,000 votes for their favorites, and based on published information about other “best of Columbus” programs, more people participated in the Cbus Top Picks in its first year than in any of the others.

The 2017 nomination process is underway now, so anyone inspired to nominate a favorite central Ohio business can do that through Sept. 3 at www. CbusTopPicks.com. Businesses can be nominated in more than 100 categories. New this year

are Best Banquet Hall, Restaurant With Best Beer Selection, Best Place to Gamble, Best Wine Shop, Restaurant With Best Wine Selection and Best Place to Tailgate.

“We expect the program to grow in its second year because customers and businesses are familiar with it now,” said Stephen Zonars, vice president and general manager of Dispatch Consumer Shows. “In the first year, business owners were enthusiastic about the program because of its authenticity and because so many people participated in the nomination and voting process.”

The program has three phases, Zonars said. The first phase is for nominations. During the second phase, from Oct. 1 to Oct. 22, the public can go to CbusTopPicks.com to vote for their favorites.

The final phase will be recognition of the top three vote-getters in each category as the 2017 Cbus Top Picks. They will be invited to attend a winners’ gala, where the No. 1 Top Pick in each category will be announced. The gala will be held on Dec. 7. The Top Picks also will be recognized in The Dispatch in December, and information about them will remain on CbusTopPicks.com for a year.