MILFORD, CT: February 16, 2022: The largest online referral network for small businesses, Alignable.com is announcing the results of its national search for leaders who’ve gone above and beyond guiding peers and supporting entire communities as they strive to recover.
Today, Alignable’s network has chosen Tara Dawn Meeker of North Star Design Studio as Milford’s 2022 Business Person Of The Year!
The 2022 contest is the most popular competition Alignable has ever hosted, marking a 64% increase in participation over last year. In all, 2,400+ small business owners were elected by their peers to be their Local Business People Of The Year across the U.S. and Canada.
During the contest, which ran from Jan. 10 to Feb. 11, 2022, 160,000+ votes and 32,000+ testimonials were posted praising thousands of local leaders for helping their peers and communities through a turbulent year with many challenges: skyrocketing inflation, labor shortages, supply chain problems, and COVID variants.
Because of these issues, 70% of small businesses have yet to recover and recovery rates have declined 13% since December, according to Alignable’s latest poll of 6,305 small business owners. This recovery reversal highlights how important it is for the contest winners to continue their work helping even more businesses bounce back from pandemic-era hurdles.
Giving Is The Glue Holding Us Together
“While technology has made us a global community, we are also a tight-knit one still at the local level. And because of this, you almost always get back what you give,” said Meeker. “The challenges we’ve all encountered have compelled many of us to offer counsel and other support to peers struggling with business challenges. While I’m thrilled to receive this award, it’s really a testament to the entire community. And it reinforces the importance of peer networking as we work towards creating a sustainable and resilient post-covid economy.”
Along with other accolades, Meeker received a special badge on their Alignable profile, recognizing this big win. In past years, the awareness generated through similar contests has spurred expanded connections, as well as new business for many winners. Meeker is no stranger to peer recognition, having won several previous Alignable Peer Recognition awards including Local Main Street Mentor of 2021, Local Businessperson of 2021, Local Main Street Supporter 2021, and being, in general, Highly Recommended by locals on Alignable.
Driving Recognition Is Key
“This has been a fun and rewarding contest to watch unfold,” said Alignable’s President & Co-Founder Venkat Krishnamurthy. “Local business owners are the heart and soul of their communities and they ought to get way more recognition for all they do. Friendly competition aside, this contest generated some incredible peer testimonials (to the tune of 32,000+), showing exactly why small business owners are stronger together.”
About North Star Design Studio
North Star Design Studio helps service-based businesses attract better clients (and more of them) through branded website design and content development. “We leverage keyword research with competitor analysis to develop a site strategy that resonates with both search engines and prospects. This includes structuring the site in a way that allows users to pre-vet themselves for a given service thus reducing tire-kicking and admin work on our client’s side.” said Meeker whose career has spanned over 2 decades.
In addition to Alignable, Tara and North Star Design Studio can be found on all the usual platforms including Facebook, Google, and LinkedIn. North Star is also featured on DesignRush, a leading B2B platform for finding Small Business Branding Agencies and Local SEO Agencies.
02-20-2022 Update
Media coverage of this award was written by Saul Flores and published in the print versions of several Herst Media publications on 02-20-2022 and can be read online in the following places: CT Post, New Haven Register, Milford Mirror and Opera News.
About Alignable
Alignable.com is the largest online referral network for small businesses in the U.S. and Canada. With 7 million+ members across 35,000+ local communities, Alignable is the network where small business owners drive leads and prospects, generate referrals, land new business, build trusted relationships, and share great advice.
