Going local in 2025: Let’s celebrate the Best of the Inland Northwest

We see you, Jeff Bezos.

We know who you are, Sam Walton.

We appreciate you — and we know we need you. But make no mistake, it’s the vibrant, smaller businesses lining our main streets, business corridors and malls that give our towns true character.

Enter the Best of the Inland Northwest 2025 Community Choice Awards.

The aim? To celebrate and recognize the hardworking owners and operators of our local businesses.

And who decides the best of the best? It’s 100% community-driven. There’s no inside deal.

The results come straight from the voting hearts of locals — that’s you, your neighbors, friends and customers from across the Quad Cities region: Lewiston, Clarkston, Moscow, Pullman, the Camas Prairie, up the Clearwater River and beyond.

After KLEW-TV discontinued its long-held “Best of the West” tradition after its 2022 edition, we picked up the mantle and ran our version of the Best of the Inland Northwest for the first time last winter: Best of the Inland Northwest 2023-24.

The results were staggering. You and your fellow Inland Northwest residents submitted some 8,000 business nominations in 170 categories. During the final voting round, nearly 12,000 people visited Inland360.com and cast more than a quarter-million votes.

And then came the sold-out celebration and gala for business staff and owners, featuring live, sealed-envelope announcements of finalists and winners in each category. The evening included red-carpet entry, an open bar, co-emceeing by Miss Idaho, live art (we’ll leave that up to your imagination) and an eight-county-wide distribution of the Best of the Inland Northwest magazine the next morning for everyone to enjoy.

We’re thrilled for its year-two return. It’s going to be bigger and better in 2025.

Here’s how it will work: We’ll curate the nomination and voting processes via Inland360.com — the website for our free regional weekly print and digital magazine that connects you with people, arts, music, culture, food, wine, beer, movies, books, fairs, festivals and family-friendly events.

We’ll be inviting you to spotlight the best businesses our region has to offer during February’s nomination round and April’s voting round.

If you’re a business owner, we’ll make sure you have what you need to get recognized. And you’re most welcome to directly contact Director of Sales Darce Johnson at djohnson@lmtribune.com, too.

Following your votes, we’ll work on the live announcement awards gala, publish the results, and crown the winners and finalists in more than 175 business categories.

Remember, it all starts in three short weeks. Between now and Saturday, Feb. 1, start thinking about your favorite businesses to nominate. Then get ready to vote, vote, vote in April.

We love where we live.

Our region is bubbling with great things to do, see, eat and experience.

Together, let’s champion and support the local businesses that give our towns character in an otherwise bland Amazon- and Walmart-dominated world.

Alford is editor and publisher of the Moscow-Pullman Daily News and Lewiston Tribune. He can be reached at alford@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2208.