“It means a lot,” said Tiller, who opened the business in 2014. “I was very humbled because there are a lot of great business owners and a lot of great bosses in our town. We work hard as a team and we have such a good atmosphere.”
The annual “Hillsdale’s Best” awards competition, which is facilitated by Hillsdale Daily News, begins with locals nominating their favorite businesses for various categories. Then, the newspaper compiles the top five contenders in each category and posts them online for residents to vote for the winners.
According to Tawney Sterett, senior multimedia sales executive for Hillsdale Daily News, patrons’ primary considerations in nominating businesses are quality, customer service, and pricing. This year, residents placed more than 90,000 votes, surpassing last year’s competition.
In addition to these awards, Viaggio Hairstylist Mindy Shoemaker was named “Best Hairstylist and Salon.” She credits the close relationship she’s built with her customers since the salon opened as the reason for the award.
“I think I have some wonderful, fabulous clients,” Shoemaker said. “They become like family and friends.”
As “Best of the Best” winners, Shoemaker and Tiller receive plaques they can display at the business, rights to the competition logo on their advertising, and recognition in the paper.
Sterett said the newspaper has hosted the contest for more than 20 years as a way of supporting local businesses and giving a shoutout to those who have done a particularly outstanding job. While the awards are always helpful to businesses, Sterett said the recognition is even more important to businesses this year.
“When the pandemic hit, we weren’t sure we were going to be able to do this competition with everything closed,” Sterett said. “But we thought it was very important to move forward to show local businesses that we’re there for them and we’re supporting them and we’re voting for them.”
Tiller concurred.
“For people to see that we actually won an award—it’s definitely helping us,” she said.
