2020 marks the fourth year for Uplift Shiawassee's A-LIST contest; an annual quest to discover the county's best businesses. The Shiawassee A-LIST is called "the definitive 'Best of' directory of Shiawassee County businesses," and with more than 65,000 votes cast in just the first round, it's easy to understand why.

Among the Corunna area businesses that received the most votes in their respective categories in the 2020 prelims is 2019 Groceries category winner, Meijer, and 2019 Barbecue category and 2019 Pub/Bar category winner, Rivals Taphouse & Grille.  2017 Golf category winner, Corunna Hills Golf Course, leads that category again in 2020 as well.

Thanks to a new "A-LIST twist" this year, one other Corunna business is guaranteed a spot in the final round of voting. A new rule this year promises a spot in the final round to any business that has previously won in a specific category more than once in the first three years of the contest. Volunteers of America (VOA) has won the Secondhand category in all three of the past A-LIST contests.  As it turns out, however, VOA garnered enough votes in this year's preliminary round to appear in the final round of voting anyway.  In fact, it may come as no surprise that VOA is leading the Secondhand category in 2020.  But the new rule, implemented in an effort to go even deeper in identifying the county's best businesses, may result in more than 5 finalists in some categories -- a first for the A-LIST.