BRAVO, BRAVO! The fifth annual Bravo to Business Awards ceremony – presented by the Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce – revealed and celebrated its five winners for 2026 including Market & Johnson, Inc., whose team, in part, is pictured. (Submitted photo from Eau Claire Chamber)

More than 300 Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce investors filled the Florian Gardens Conference Center on Thursday, Nov. 6, to celebrate the winners of the fifth annual Bravo to Business Awards – announced live.

Over two dozen local businesses were finalists across Bravo to Business’ five categories: Resilient Business of the Year, Young Professionals Best Place to Work, Small Business of the Year, Business of the Year and Emerging Business of the Year.

The Emerging Business of the Year award – open to any local for-profit business, regardless of Chamber membership status, with 25 or fewer full-time employees – went to Slab Factory.

The sports and trading cards biz will celebrate its two-year anniversary in Eau Claire on Nov. 19 (there is one other Slab Factory location, in Madison, which opened in 2025). Slab Factory, co-owned by Jordan Stoll and Tyler Henderson, initially opened its doors in 2024 inside Banbury Place before moving to its current location on Clairemont Avenue in March 2025.

This year’s Small Business of the Year award went to Gator Garb Promotions, an Eau Claire-based biz specializing in promotional products for other businesses, schools and organizations. Gator Garb has been in business for just shy of 30 years.

Market & Johnson, a locally-founded construction business behind all kinds of projects in the Chippewa Valley and beyond, was named the 2026 Business of the Year. In a celebratory social media post, the business called the award “a reflection of our crews on site, out team behind the scenes, and the community that trusts us to build its future.”

Anyone – Chamber investor or not – may nominate a business for consideration. To win,  “organizations must demonstrate excellence, innovation, and community involvement, setting the standard for leadership and impact in the Chippewa Valley,” the Chamber wrote in a media release.

2026 Bravo to Business Awards winners and finalists

Small Business of the Year

• Gator Garb Promotions (winner)
• At the Roots LLC (finalist)
• Coulee Tech (finalist)
• Kersten Family Junk Removal (finalist)
• River Valley Architects, Inc. (finalist)

Business of the Year

• Market & Johnson, Inc. (winner)
• Green Oasis (finalist)
• Hoeft Builders, Inc. (finalist)
• Miron Construction (finalist)
•  Northwestern Bank (finalist)

Emerging Business of the Year

• Slab Factory (winner)
• Decadent Gifts and Gallery (finalist)
• NovaSky Marketing (finalist)
• Rellim Senior Day Care, LLC (finalist)
• Ultra Commercial Realty (finalist)

Resilient Business of the Year

• Hello Adorn (winner)
• REALiving (finalist)
• Rescued & Redeemed (finalist)
• The Kim Louise Xperience (finalist)
• WESTconsin Credit Union (finalist)

Young Professionals Best Place to Work

• River Prairie Wealth Partners (winner)
• Eau Claire Energy Cooperative (finalist)
• Gator Garb Promotions (finalist)
• Hoeft Builders, Inc. (finalist)
• River Valley Architects, Inc. (finalist)

Learn more about the Eau Claire Area Chamber of Commerce and its Bravo to Business Awards online.