Best of the Chippewa Valley

Reader Polls

The Best of the Chippewa Valley 2022

The Best of the Chippewa Valley 2023

The Best of the Chippewa Valley 2024

The Best of the Chippewa Valley 2025

The Best of the Chippewa Valley 2026

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Ranting & Raving

hottest local topics of discussion

Poll Questions in this Category

Best Employer

For the third year in a row, PESI, a non-profit organization with 100 employees who provide continuing education in various forms to professionals across the nation, and Royal...

Best Local Business Advocate

For the sixth year in a row, Mike Conner, executive director of PESI, and Brandon Riechers, president/CEO of Royal Credit Union, have earned No. 1 and No. 2 rankings as Best Local...

Best Networking Group or Event

Connect and grow! Polka Dot Powerhouse takes first place (for the third year in a row!) with its locally-founded, global women's networking community that spans chapters across the...

Best Project in Progress or Completed in the Last Year

Sayonara, Zorn Arena! UWEC’s new 226,000-square-foot, $122 million Sonnentag Center (1075 Menomonie St., Eau Claire) is a sight to see, featuring a fieldhouse, event center...

Best Shop Pet

Meet the Valley's cutest employees! The terrific trio of Molly, Willy, and Bruce take first place, welcoming shoppers...

Best Teacher / Professor

Shaping minds and inspiring futures! Brady Martin takes first-place, transforming physical education at Altoona Middle...

Best Thing

Interact with Wisconsin’s 30-plus native butterfly species at the Beaver Creek Reserve Butterfly House (S1 County...

Best Use of Taxpayer Dollars Last Year

Raise your hand if you like paying taxes! At least it’s not so bad when the funds go toward public education...

Best Volunteer Opportunity

All paws on deck! There is no shortage of ways to help adorable animals at the Eau Claire Community Humane Association...

Biggest Thing We Should Make Happen Soon

According to Salary.com, prices are up 1.3% in Eau Claire compared to a year ago, and housing is among the largest...

Favorite Local Celebrity

Dogs and donuts seem a good ticket to winning. For example: Therapy dogs took the top two slots for Favorite Local...

Favorite Local Nonprofit

It’s always a tug-of-war between animal-lovin’ orgs for first place, but this year Bob’s House for...

Most Bizarre Local News Story

There’s plenty of bad news in the world; plenty of good news, for that matter. However, 2024 was particularly...

Most Disappointing Thing in the Past Year

We’re with you: The closure of HSHS Sacred Heart and St. Joseph’s hospitals totally sucked, to put it...

Most Memorable Happening in the Past Year

In addition to being the most disappointing thing in the last year, the HSHS Sacred Heart and St. Joseph’s closure...

Most Overrated Thing in or About the Valley in the Past Year

When people start clogging up the roads in search of subpar fried foods, we really have to wonder what’s the hype...

Most Underrated Thing in or About the Valley in the Past Year

All the local small businesses make the Chippewa Valley such a special place to call home, featuring talented local...

Things the Chippewa Valley Has Been Bad At in the Past Year

Womp, womp. On a bit of a bummer note, readers say the Chippewa Valley has been pretty bad about building affordable...

Things the Chippewa Valley is Good At

This wouldn’t really be the “Best Of the Chippewa Valley ” issue if we didn’t talk about what...

Your Favorite Local Elected Official

Our readers’ Favorite Local Elected Officials are spread out a bit, geographically and politically speaking. In...

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