The Best of Bellevue is a fun community contest involving local businesses and the people who live and work in Bellevue, Nebraska! The contest is organized by The Bellevue Times, a local community business whose goal is to improve communication and the flow of information throughout our community. The Bellevue Times team is made up of Bellevue residents, businesses, and organizations who share a common vision — making Bellevue the best it can be.

This year is especially important for the Best of Bellevue. When the event was restructured in 2018, we decided to recognize winners for the current year. For example, a business selected that year was recognized as Best of Bellevue 2018. Over time, however, it became clear that we needed to make a change and begin recognizing winners for the following year instead.

One of the main reasons for this change is that businesses often use their Best of Bellevue badge in advertising and marketing long after the contest ends. Under the old system, they were promoting an award from the previous year. By recognizing winners for the following year, the award remains current throughout the year it is being used. This is the same approach used by Best of Omaha and many other respected “Best of” contests across the country.

That makes this year’s contest unique. Any business voted Best of Bellevue in 2026 will be recognized as both Best of Bellevue 2026 and Best of Bellevue 2027. This one-time adjustment allows us to make the transition without skipping a year. Beginning with next year’s contest, winners will be recognized for the following year. In other words, voting in 2027 will determine the Best of Bellevue 2028 winners. Thank you for your support as we make this improvement.

All Bellevue businesses that participate benefit from being listed in the Best of Bellevue Business Directory. This directory contains more than 1,000 business, government, and organization listings and is shared throughout our local social media network. These groups have a combined membership of more than 50,000 people — with new members joining every day. Many of those members are new to Bellevue and the surrounding area, helping connect participating businesses with thousands of potential new customers.

We also promote the Business Directory throughout the year on our social media groups, as well as through the Best of Bellevue Facebook page and Twitter account.