NORWICH – A nine-month endeavor to be named “America’s Best Community” came to an end this week upon news that Norwich will not move on in a privately funded, multi-million dollar competition.

The America’s Best Community contest is an initiative spearheaded by Frontier Communication that’s aimed at spurring the economy of small communities. Frontier, in partnerships with Dish Network, CoBank, and the Weather Channel, put up $10 million for the competition which the company says will provide a wealth of creative ideas about how to revitalize small towns and rural communities across the U.S.

The top prize in this competition: a hefty $3 million to implement a plan to jump-start the local economy.

Under the direction of Commerce Chenango, Norwich had been a formidable competitor in the America’s Best Communities contest. Commerce Chenango and other leaders in the Greater Norwich community submitted an application back in April and as a result, Norwich became one of 50 quarterfinalists to receive $35,000 to start work on a comprehensive economic revitalization plan.

Commerce Chenango was able to obtain an additional $15,000 in community matching funds thanks to support from its corporate mentor, Chobani.

But this week, the America’s Best Communities pannel announced that Norwich falls short in its implementation plan, making it ineligible for the $100,000 prize that’s awarded in the semi-finalist and finalist rounds of the competition.