Sequim now has the bragging rights to say it is the Best Northwestern Small Town.

On April 28, the City of Sequim was notified it won the Best Northwestern Small Town distinction by USA TODAY’s 10 Best Reader’s Choice travel award contest.

“Clearly it shines a little spotlight on us for folks that didn’t know about us,” City of Sequim Communications and Marketing Director Barbara Hanna said.

In late March, Hanna said the city received an email from representatives of USA TODAY stating Sequim was nominated by a panel of experts to compete as one of 20 cities to win the title of Best Northwestern Small Town. The category covered Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Other Washington towns in the contest were Port Townsend — which came in fourth place — Friday Harbor, LaConner and Winthrop.

Sequim residents were encouraged to vote for Sequim through an online voting poll where it held the lead for the entire length of the four week contest. Votes were cast from March 27-April 24.

“It was very encouraging to see the level of support from the community from the beginning,” Hanna said. She added that winning this contest has created a lot of feedback from social media users on Facebook and Twitter that either shared or commented on Sequim’s win.

“For some other people it reinforces some decisions they made to visit or relocate.”

She said for the future, the city has the opportunity to use this win as promotional material and a marketing tagline if the city wants to do so.

The top 10 cities that finished for the Best Northwestern Small Town USA TODAY competition are as follows: 1. Sequim, 2. Florence, Ore., 3. Buffalo, Wyo., 4. Port Townsend, 5. Sitka, Alaska, 6. Friday Harbor, 7. Winthrop, 8. Wallace Idaho, 9. Cook City, Mont., and 10. Talkeenta, Alaska.