 After being announced as a top 10 city in the small business revolution, the Brainerd Lakes area had the opportunity to show off the city to the team from the Deluxe Corporation. Clayton Castle was at the rally and has more on what winning the competition would mean for Brainerd. Four of the crowd made an impression. That was unbelievable. I have to say we have done a lot of these receptions and they're all really special for different reasons but we have never had a scream like that. It was almost like a surprise party though we knew the party was happening. The city of Brainerd is in the top 10 cities to be selected by the Deluxe Corporation and the web shows small business revolution for a grand prize of $500,000 for downtown revitalization. On Wednesday night the Brainerd business community held a rally to welcome the Deluxe team and show star Amanda Brinkman. Our community came out, our business community came out and they were cheering here like the Vikings won the Super Bowl and you know that's what we were after to make a dynamic impression. Building up small businesses is at the heart of the small business revolution as those small businesses are extremely important in small towns like Brainerd. We wanted to do something to really honor small businesses and turn the spotlight onto the importance of small businesses and nowhere is that more true than inner small towns and so we started the small business revolution to really create a movement. For Brainerd the businesses in downtown are important to the vitality of the city. The small businesses that four blocks in the center of the city is the heart of the city. Without that four blocks there's a huge tax incentive to keep that four blocks per square foot that's the most valuable property in the city. As for the showing that Brainerd put on Wednesday night chamber president Matt Killian believes Deluxe will have a tough decision come the time to pick the top five. You know I think we really showcase the the energy and the passion of the Brainerd business community and the mood in this place was absolutely electric and so they're going to have a tough decision to go from 10 to 5 but Brainerd made a great impression tonight we're going to continue that tomorrow. The top five will be announced sometime in mid-February followed by an online fan vote to determine the winner. Reporting in Brainerd Clayton Castle Lakeland News. Breakman and the rest of the Deluxe team visited the businesses of downtown Brainerd earlier today as part of their itinerary in Brainerd. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News please consider making a tax deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.