The Greater Austin Chamber has announced the finalists for the Fifth Annual Business Awards banquet that will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. on Wednesday, August 24, at the Hilton Austin, 500 East Fourth Street.

Nominations this year hit an all-time high with 146 companies nominated for excellence! The finalists have been selected and these companies are now one step closer to winning a prestigious Chamber Business Award. The awards will be given to small, medium, large and non-profit businesses in the categories of Commitment to Community, Innovative Business, Customer Service and Commitment to Education, a new award category created this year. Finalists for the $5,000 Freescale Non-Profit Award have also been selected.

This event, themed “Swing Era”, will feature a 17-piece orchestra and singer performing big band hits with skilled swing dance performers.

And the finalists are…

Commitment to Community: AvenueOne Properties, Inc.; Capital Area Council- Boy Scouts of America; David Weekley Homes; Deloitte and Touche; Graves, Dougherty, Hearon & Moody; Higginbotham and Associates, Inc.; Meals on Wheels and More; The Real Estate Council of Austin, Inc.; Seton Healthcare; Time Warner Cable; Tokyo Electron; United Heritage Credit Union; Wells Fargo.

Innovative Business: Austin Habitat for Humanity; Get the Picture, Inc.; iwayloan, LP; Laughing Out Loud Productions; Meals On Wheels and More; Raba-Kistner Consultants Inc.; SEMATECH; Seton Healthcare; Site Controls Incorporated; Tokyo Electron; Wayport, Inc.; Yellow Cab Austin.

Customer Service: Caritas; David Weekley Homes; DPR Construction, Inc.; Enterprise Ren-A-Car; ETS Global Chauffered Services; State Bank; Steam Team Cleaning and Restoration; TG; Truluck's Seafood Steak and Crab House.

Commitment to Education: Austin Housing Authority; AvenueOne Properties, Inc.; Cole & Powell; Fleishman-Hillard; H-E-B; Junior League of Austin; Kirby Hall School; San Juan Diego Catholic High School; SEMATECH; Washington Mutual.

Freescale Non-Profit Award: Assistance League of Austin; Austin Habitat for Humanity; Youth and Family Alliance.

The Chamber thanks Title sponsor: Freescale Semiconductor. Media Sponsors: KTBC-FOX 7, the Austin Business Journal and KMFA. Sustaining Sponsors: Bracewell & Guiliani, LLP, Jolly Design, LCRA, Raba-Kistner Consultants, Inc. and Wachovia Bank, N.A. Contributing Sponsors: St. David's Foundation, Temple-Inland, Inc., Colliers Oxford Commercial and DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary.