Hey there! I’m Julie, founder of Top Local Best, and I want to welcome you to TLB! We’re so excited to have you here as you search for a new local spot to eat, drink, and/or have fun. It may not seem like it, but visiting a local place over a big box store has a monumental impact. As a local business owner myself, I began to notice that so many of the local places that I love don’t get enough foot traffic, usually because people don’t know about them yet! I began brainstorming ways I could help the local community of business owners to have the attention they so much deserve. Fast forward to today, where Top Local Best’s main passion is to support the local places that make your hometown so unique!
When you shop and eat locally, you’re not only helping to stimulate your hometown economy, but you’re also helping your neighbors, friends, and the local community to pay their bills, support their families, and fulfill a dream of being their own boss. Top Local Best was created to help these business owners that work diligently day in and day out to make “home” a better place to be!
Because we exist to elevate the local businesses, we will never require the winners to pay a fee of any kind. A business makes it on to our list because you, the local resident, voted for it! (have you voted yet?)
In addition to helping your local community thrive, by using Top Local Best as your resource for all things local, you’re also making a global impact. In 2016, my husband, Fanfan, and I started a non-profit organization for Fanfan’s home country, Haiti. “The Vine Haiti” is our way of giving back to the Haitian people by helping them support their own families, just like we do locally in your hometown. By using TLB as your local resource, you help us help Haiti by allowing us to fund small businesses in the Haitian community, creating new jobs here in the U.S. and in other countries.
If we haven’t said it enough, thank you for being here, and thank you for shopping local!
MEET THE TEAM:
Julie Larame, Matt Konkler, Lindsey Konkler, Gabe Koehlinger, Erin Glassley, Netty Leach, Mithu Biswas (Not Pictured)