SANTA MONICA—Members of the Santa Monica community can participate in the 5th Annual “Most Loved Santa Monica Businesses” contest. For the month of February, people are asked to vote for over two dozen business including most loved restaurant, gym, coffee shop, farmers market vendor and more.

“Santa Monica has phenomenal local businesses and this is a way you can show your love and appreciation,” said Jennifer Taylor, Economic Development Administrator for the City. “We want to know which businesses our locals cannot live without, which ones make you smile when you drop in and the ones that deserve some love for being all around awesome.”

Voting started on February 1 at 8 a.m. and will close Wednesday, February 28 at 11:59 p.m. Rules include the following:

-Only one vote is allowed per IP address at www.BuyLocalSantaMonica.com (click on the cupid to link to the survey).

-Vote for as many categories as you can.

-To qualify for the Most Loved raffle prize drawing (gift certificates and cool swag from local businesses), you will need to vote in at least ten categories and list at least three different businesses.

Votes will be counted by the Santa Monica High School statistics class in partnership with Buy Local Santa Monica, a partnership created by the city and Santa Monica business community to assist in helping local businesses and to urge people to shop, eat, and play local.

Most Loved contest winners will be announced in May during a special ceremony at City Hall. Details on the event will be shared in the spring.

In 2017, over 3,500 people responded by voting for their Most Loved, a three-fold increase from 2014, the inaugural year of Most Loved.

The annual Most Loved Santa Monica contest is an initiative of the Buy Local Santa Monica Committee and the Santa Monica Daily Press in partnership with local business improvement districts (Downtown SM, Main St, Montana Ave + Pico Blvd), the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce, the Santa Monica Pier Corporation, Santa Monica Travel + Tourism and the City of Santa Monica.

To view 2017 winners, visit www.BuyLocalSM.com/most-loved.