In our Best of the Best Awards, you — the readers — have the final say. Every year, our community looks forward to nominating and voting for their favorite local businesses, organizations, people, and places. It’s a celebration of what makes our area unique, and we’re proud to host this contest as a way to recognize and support those who make a difference here.

We’re excited to announce nominations are now open for Best of the Best 2026! It’s that time of year again-time for our readers to vote for their favorite businesses and business people in the Times-Republican and Tama-Grundy Publishing coverage area and time for the spirit of friendly competition to reign supreme. It’s time to decide the Best of the Best. The nomination period officially opened on March 31,and runs through April 7.

Readers can propose businesses, organizations and names for all of the categories, including new categories.This keeps the contest fresh as new businesses and organizations come to the area and as existing ones change and grow.

Voting is conducted entirely online at www.timesrepublican.com. The Best of the Best 2026 contest includes the entire coverage area, which covers Marshall County, Tama County and Grundy County. Voting is limited to one vote in each category per person per day. We’re happy to carry on such a storied tradition allowing you, the reader,to have the final say. This contest is fundamentally about celebrating and supporting great area institutions by raising their profile and helping them gain new fans. With daily voting, the contest raises the visibility of those businesses and organizations that use it to reach out to new and existing customers to ask for their support through advertising.

So, let’s see those nominations, and let’s prepare ourselves to watch the best local businesses rise to the top. Visit www.timesrepublican.com to submit nominations today and learn more about the contest. The schedule this year is as follows:

March 31

Nomination round opens

April 7

Nomination round closes

April 13

Sales open for voting round advertising

May 15

Sales close for voting round advertising

June 3

Voting round announcing nominees opens

June 11

Voting round closes

June 15

Sales open for winners & finalists publication

July 13

Sales close for winners & finalists publication

July 29

Winners & finalists announced in publication and on the website.

Anyone with questions about the process is encouraged to email best@timesrepublican.com.

Business owners can contact T-R Sales Manager Rhonda James at rjames@timesrepublican.com for their Best of the Best Advertising Packet.

Thank you for helping us shine a spotlight on the businesses and people who make our community a wonderful place to live.