"For nearly 90 years, AUW has been a leader in the delivery of health and human services on Oahu and I'm excited to be a part of the team this year," said Smith. "No matter who we are, we can all come together to pitch in and collectively improve lives and community conditions."

Smith said the economy is strong and he expects this to be a good year for fundraising. Tens of thousands of O'ahu residents benefit from AUW programs and services every year in areas such as tutoring, homelessness, drug treatment and healthcare. For more information visit: www.auw.org.

Hawaii Small Business IT Hui sets conference

Representatives of some of the nation's largest federal contractors, as well as officials from several federal agencies, are scheduled to speak at a conference on information technology Aug. 31 through Sept. 1 at the Sheraton Waikiki.

Organized by the Hawaii Small Business IT Hui, the conference will include representatives from Lockheed Martin, Computer Sciences Corp. and L-3 Titan Group. The Department of Defense and Department of Veterans' Affairs also will be represented at the event, titled: HSBIT Forum 2006: Where is the Business.