SEARCY, Ark. — UPDATE 2/18/19 - Searcy has slipped to second place. But it is a very tight race, and the next two days are critical for Searcy's success, which is a success for all of Arkansas.
Voting concludes Feb. 19 at 10 p.m. CST.
Vote daily at MySearcy.org now through Feb. 19th!
Searcy is among the top 10 final cities competing for a spot on a Hulu reality show and Thursday producers were in town checking out what the city has to offer.
With a half a million dollar prize at stake and a chance to be featured on eight episodes of Small Business Revolution, hundreds of people packed the streets of downtown Searcy to show the producers what their town is all about.
"This is to show the producers our entire community and state is supportive of Searcy and going to back us up and win this thing when it comes to national vote,” small business owner Mat Faulkner said.
Out of over 12,000 cities, Searcy is in the top 10 trying snag the top spot on the show.
“As soon as they announce the top five, there will be a week of national voting and if we win we'll get half a million dollars to renovate our town," Faulkner said. "Six businesses will get makeovers.”
The production crew was in town for a two day visit, trying to figure out which cities will move on to the top five.
"Narrowing it down to the top five is an excruciating decision because all of these communities are so deserving,” Co-host and show creator Amanda Brinkman said.
Brinkman said her crew visited 30 small businesses Thursday. She said Searcy gave off a very genuine vibe, making it a great fit for the show.
"There are so many incredible businesses in downtown Searcy and we try to get to know as many of them as possible,” Brinkman said. "People love the small businesses in this community and that's exactly what we've been trying to prove in this entire movement."
Quattlebaum Music is one of the stores producers visited. Owner Greg Geroy says it is exciting Searcy has made it this far.
"They wanted to know a little bit about what we've been doing here a long time and why we're still here,” Geroy said. “It just kind of reinforces that we got something special here."
The producers have four more stops before they narrow it down to a top 5. From there, the top 5 will be announced in mid-February.