People's Choice · 2027
Lenoir City & Tellico Village
One question decides this ballot: which business would you recommend to a neighbor who just moved in?
Why Lenoir City is different
Two very different customers, one set of local businesses
Loudon County buried more people than it delivered last year — deaths outran births by 175 — and still added about 1,100 residents, because roughly 1,200 more people moved in from other counties than left. This is a retirement-destination county, and nearly all of its growth arrives by moving van.
What makes the ballot here unusual is that those arrivals split into two groups who shop the same main street with different wallets. Tellico Village has 3,626 households at a $98,214 median income. Lenoir City itself has 4,340 households at $60,480. A business that wins on the lake and a business that wins in town are often not the same business, and pretending otherwise makes a ranking useless to both.
So this edition runs one ballot with a lake-and-marine section built into it, and it asks who you'd vouch for rather than who your favorite is. A newcomer who has owned a dock for three weeks needs a name they can trust, not a popularity contest.
Home services & trades
12HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, remodeling, lawn, pest, cleaning, gutters, plus dock and seawall work. A new arrival hires six of these in the first year.
Lake & marine
5Marina, boat repair and service, dock builder, boat and RV storage, watersports rental. The category no inland edition needs and this one can't do without.
Health & medical
7Dental, orthodontics, optometry, physical therapy, chiropractic, veterinary, hearing. Regulated fields appear as verified listings rather than a popularity vote.
Dining & food
8Breakfast, lunch, dinner, barbecue, pizza, bakery, coffee and catering, on the water and off it.
Personal care
5Hair salon, stylist, barber, nails and massage.
Retail, auto & professional
11Auto repair, tire, car wash, garden center, furniture, gift, insurance, accounting, real estate, financial advice and legal — several as verified listings only.
2027 calendar
What happens when
Lenoir City runs on the same calendar as Maryville, so both resident editions share one marketing push and one print run.
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Now — Business registration
Get on the list
Free, no commitment. Registering means you won't miss nominations and your details are right when the ballot is built.
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Feb 9 – Mar 22, 2027
Nominations
Open write-in across all categories. Top five per category become finalists. Tell your customers — campaigning is encouraged.
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Apr 6 – May 10, 2027
Voting
Finalists only. One verified vote per person per category. Finalist order randomized on every ballot load.
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May 25, 2027
Winners announced
Winners and runners-up published. Categories that don't clear the minimum vote threshold aren't awarded that year.
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Jun 18, 2027
Print edition & awards night
Winners edition distributed through title companies, realtor new-resident packets, the Tellico Village welcome desk, marinas, the chamber and the library.
The market
Who you'd be reaching
Households in Tellico Village, at a $98,214 median income — a lake community of people who mostly moved here from somewhere else.
Households in Lenoir City proper, at a $60,480 median income. Same businesses, a different customer.
Net arrivals from other counties in a year, in a county where deaths outnumbered births by 175.
Loudon County gross retail sales in 2024, in a county projected to grow from 62,507 to 70,763 people by 2029.
Registration, nomination and being ranked all cost nothing. Advertising is separate, optional, and always labeled.