As the Southern Highlands Business Awards gear up to celebrate its milestone birthday tonight, Kylie Dennis shared her memories of when it all began.

Ms Dennis worked in Bowral as the general manager of the Highland Post between 1992 and 2000 and helped to start the annual awards.

The awards were started by the Highland Post after the awards had much success when introduced to the Dubbo community by the Dubbo Daily Liberal.

"John Armati, the then owner and CEO of the company, which at that time was called Macquarie Publications, really encouraged me to get it started in the Highlands," Ms Dennis said.

"He could see that there was a lot of potential.

"We found the awards were a great community and business builder; it surprised us how well it went even in that first year.

"When the awards first began we were set up in a tent in Annesley Gardens."

"We sold tickets and had an extremely good response, it surprised us how much the business community actually wanted the event."

Within a few short years the interest in the awards had grown so much that a bigger tent was needed, and the event moved to the grounds of the Grand Mercure in Bowral (now known as the Sebel Bowral Heritage Park). "That year we had an old Hollywood glamour theme, complete with a red carpet and smoke machines," Ms Dennis said.

Ms Dennis said the numbers steadily increased year after year.

"We had more than 250 people attend in the second year, and by the third year there were more than 350," she said.

"We developed rigorous judging criteria for the awards and they really became a very coveted thing."

By the time the awards were five years old, the tent was no longer an option due to large guest numbers and the risk of wet-weather.

"If it rained we'd get a lot of mud so we needed to find a venue that was safe, with walkways and covered areas," Ms Dennis said. Mittagong RSL was the solution to this issue, as it offered a large auditorium with plenty of design possibilities.

"We teamed up with Mark Donnelly as creative director, who was working with Stewart Barlen Hire," Ms Dennis said. "He really made the auditorium something special. "We also had a 'Walk of Fame' where community members and business owners could sponsor a photo to appear on the walk, and then keep it afterwards."

Ms Dennis said she was glad the awards were still recognising the efforts of the business community within the Southern Highlands.

"I'm blown away and so impressed that they're still going," she said.

The Southern Highland Business Awards for Excellence will be held tonight, at Mittagong RSL.