Calling all Laurelites!! 📢 – it’s time to rally the troops and show your hometown pride!

A different type of March Madness is about to take off, and this one’s for Laurel to make its way through five bracket levels and be named “Strongest Town Champion”!

Thanks to the work of Laurel resident Calvin Burns, we’ve already made it past Level 1 – Now we’ve arrived at where voting begins and where you come in: all hands are needed on deck!

  • Mar 2 - 13: Week 1 voting – Eight towns will be eliminated, and eight will advance

  • Mar 16 - 20: Week 2 voting – The Elite Eight will be matched head-to-head, with only four advancing on

  • Mar 23 - 27: Week 3 voting – Another head-to-head round, where the Final Four get narrowed down to the Championship Match

  • Mar 30 - Apr 3: The Championship Match where One Strongest Town will emerge!

I’ll update this post with voting links as they’re released, and you can also read more about the competition on the Strongest Towns competition page.

You may already be familiar, but Strong Towns (sponsor of the annual competition) is a non-profit powering a movement to help cities, towns, and neighborhoods to take local action to grow safe, livable, and financially resilient communities. They’ve garnered resources, tools, and a membership of people all across the country who are seeking to help impact their own neighborhoods for the better.

What better way to showcase your hometown pride than submitting your vote each week and seeing Laurel claim the championship trophy! 🏆And with the trophy comes a mini-documentary that will showcase the gem of our one-in-a-million City!