What Are The Most Supportive Small Biz Towns In N. America?

After amassing more than 94,000 votes so far, Alignable's 2022 Local Business Person Of The Year Contest has revealed the most supportive, best-networked, and most active small business communities across the U.S. and Canada.

However, a few more weeks remain in the contest, which means some of these rankings can change, depending on how much support contest contenders in each community continue to receive from their peers.

In fact, if you want your town to rise to the top, it's time to rally the troops, and start voting for more people listed in your hometown on Alignable.  

All members have 10 votes each -- and 10 votes could make a difference in many of these rankings, as they stand now. (See the lists for the U.S. and Canada below).

To vote right now on your personalized page, go here.

Top 25 Most Supportive Small Biz Towns -- United States

So, here's the U.S. rundown of the cities and towns where the highest number of small business people have come out to show their support for community members going above and beyond to help over the past year. 

As you can see, there are some cities that are tied in this grouping of the 25 towns with the most contest voting activity.

Is your community on this list? And should it be?

If you think you live in a great, well-networked city where small businesses can thrive, and it's not on this list right now, go ahead and let us know. 

The same goes for people whose hometowns are on the list, but they think their community should be ranked more prominently.

Your Votes Can Make A Difference 

To help change the rankings, round up your small business friends and associates, vote for the  most-helpful community leaders in your town -- and check my future posts to see if those efforts have helped the rankings. 

Beyond that, let me know about surges I should anticipate in the comment section after this article, and I'll be watching those communities closely from the sidelines -- and report on major changes.

In the U.S., right now, Mesa, AZ and San Antonio, TX are jockeying for first place, and these positions have changed a few times over the past week.

Orlando, New Orleans, Greenwich, Cincinnati, San Jose, and Tucson have bounced in and out of the Top 3 to 5 slots over the past couple of weeks, as well.

And Oklahoma City, Birmingham, and Baltimore have just recently landed in the Top 10, so there's obviously a groundswell of support for local leaders in these cities, too. (To the dedicated voters showing their thanks, please keep up the great work -- I'm sure your peers appreciate it). 

It's safe to say that these top ranking communities have major small business networks and supporters vying for local superstars to get the credit they deserve. This kind of unity often forms the foundation of the best cities or towns to start and run a successful small business.

Some Front-Runners Set The Pace For The Top Cities

Because I've been running these contests for four years now, I have had the pleasure of connecting with many of the best-networked, most-helpful Alignable members.

Let me fill you in on a little secret: the great networkers, who help others with all kinds of advice and support, are often the ones who rise to the top in the contests. And these front-runners often elevate the status of their entire towns, serving as a great example of why their towns are robust places for small businesses to thrive.

Because these top contest contenders invest a significant amount of time and energy helping others with their businesses, they inspire peers in their towns to do the same, ultimately driving more referrals, recommendations, and new business among their entire local network.  It's how it works on Alignable and it's what drives local business economies, too. 

114 Votes Already? Jill's Supporters Put Mesa On The Map

One example of this kind of community leader is Jill Cone of AZ Metals, who was elected as the No. 1 Main Street Mentor in the U.S. last year. And she is also well ahead of the pack in her hometown of Mesa, AZ, for this current contest. 

Based on dozens of testimonials I've read about Jill, she is very focused on helping her customers and all of the peers in her network and community in any way she can.  That kind of dedication explains why, after just a couple of weeks, she already has 114 votes and 90 testimonials to her credit in this contest.

Also, you'll notice in our 2022 Local Biz Person Of The Year Contest Group that Jill connects with many people logging into that growing community of 7,000+ contest fans.  She answers countless questions about the contest while introducing herself to new members. And she gives plenty of networking tips along the way, too. 

The Top 25 Most Supportive Small Biz Cities In Canada

Shifting to our friends up north, the top cities participating in this year's contest are similar to those that rose to the top in last year's competition, as well.

In fact, the person who was named Canada's No. 1 Main Street Mentor in 2021, Gunther Kramer of Gecko Websites, is helping to give his hometown, Waterloo, ON, an advantage in the rankings, as well.

Like Jill Cone, Gunther is a master networker helping many businesses along the way. And he already has 30 votes and 17 testimonials in this contest, currently ranking as No. 1 in Canada's top town for small business support, Waterloo, ON.

Beyond Gunther's hometown, Mississauga, ON, and Winnipeg, MB, are very close to the top spot, too. While London, ON, and Windsor, ON, aren't far behind.

Here are several other Canadian cities and towns replete with Alignable members demonstrating strong support for small businesses and the local superheroes who inspire everyone else to strive for greater success. 

Canadians -- if you think your town should have a better ranking, then please use those ten votes and be sure your favorite peers (and your town) receive the appropriate amount of recognition. Vote here.

Finally, A Sneak Peek At Local Leaderboards!

While it's exciting to see where your town ranks in terms of the kind of support its small business leaders receive, many contest participants love to see where they're ranking at this point in the competition. 

Our email team is planning to send notes to everyone, inviting them to check out their Local Leaderboards next week. But I figured our dedicated newsletter readers deserved a preview ahead of those emails. So, here goes...

To see where people in your town are ranking -- right now -- for 2022's Local Business Person Of The Year, create links with these formats:

• For the U.S. -- www.alignable.com/town-state/votes
• For Canada -- www.alignable.com/town-province/votes

Here is one example that illustrates how this works, when you apply your town, state, or province to this format.

For Raleigh, NC, you would type: www.alignable.com/raleigh-nc/votes. And when you click the link you created, you would see this leaderboard:

For a town with a longer name, you would follow the same formula, but just make sure there's a dash between each word. For instance, for Marco Island, FL, it would look like this: www.alignable.com/marco-island-fl/votes. And this leaderboard should appear:

Please keep checking our newsletters and the 2022 Local Biz Person Of The Year Contest Group, along with your emails, for more updates as this exciting contest continues to build momentum. 

And remember to use the contest as a great vehicle to boost your networking activity while giving thanks to the people who've helped you the most over the past year.

Thanks for reading and for participating in this year's contest.