Five early-stage companies were selected by a five-judge panel Friday to advance to the Alabama Launchpad Startup Competition finale in December. Ten teams pitched before the judges Friday at Evonik Industries in Birmingham. 

The five companies earned a chance to win a share of up to $250,000 in funding and will advance to the Competition Finale that will be held on Dec.10 at the Design Lab-Huntsville at Historic Lincoln Mills, 1300 Meridian Street North, 2nd Floor. The event begins at 4 p.m.

The Honda auto assembly plant in Talladega County played host to about 160 high school students last week, part of an ongoing effort to recruit a new generation of manufacturing workers.

Many manufacturers are having difficulty attracting young people to "making things," because they don't understand what modern manufacturing is all about, said Ted Pratt, spokesman for Honda Manufacturing of Alabama.