CRI Brown Bag Lunch Series - Know Your Strengths
Back by popular demand! After a fantastically popular September "Strength-Quest" Brown Bag, CRI welcomes back DeAnna Murphy on December 9 for Strength-Based Leadership: The Value of Knowing Your Strengths and How to Leverage Them, another free Brown Bag event. Bring your lunch and join DeAnna from 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm at CRI to learn how to do what you do best every single day. Increase emotional engagement, quality of life, passion, and productivity in the workplace. Develop better employees who are more satisfied and who make significant, quality contributions to the organization. Can't get enough strengths-based learning? Join DeAnna for a full four-session course on Strength-Based Leadership, beginning January 19, 8:30 am - 12:30 pm at CRI. Click here for the registration form for this illuminating and inspiring class. Register now as spaces are limited.

Traditional Skills Workshop - Bread-Making
Learn how to bake delicious homemade breads - a perfect skill for the holidays! BSU's Office of Sustainability will host its final Traditional Skills workshop for the fall semester on Thursday, December 10 at 6:30 p.m. in the Walnut Hall Entryway. The cost of this class is $7 and it's open to all community members. Participants will leave the class with one loaf of Irish Soda Bread and one loaf of Pain de Campaigne. Advance registration is suggested.

Natural Resources Continuing Education Consortium Presents "When the Wolf is at the Door: Exploring Issues of Vulnerability and Capacity in Louisiana's Coastal Zone"
Dr. Carla Norris-Raynbird will discuss parish (county) participation in Louisiana's Local Coastal Program (LCP), related knowledge and attitudes toward coastal issues, and the impact of LCP participation on coastal hazard vulnerability. This presentation is based on research gathered in Louisiana immediately before Hurricane Katrina. Dr. Norris-Raynbird is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Bemidji State University. This free educational workshop will be offered on Monday, December 14 at 3:00 p.m. at CRI.

CRI Brown Bag Lunch Series - Beltrami County Interactive Mapping Demonstration
Jane Mueller, Beltrami County's Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Director, will conduct a demonstration of the county's web-based interactive mapping capacities. The available tools include air mapping, making measurements, adding map annotations, use of latitudes and longitude coordinates, generating mailing labels of parcel owners, and saving and printing maps. This class is perfect for realtors, appraisers, bankers, and other professionals who could gain clients and credibility through the proficient use of this dynamic technology. Bring your lunch to the CRI from noon to 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 13, for this free event. Click here for more information.

Real Estate Sales Pre-Licensure Courses - Real Estate I, II, and III
To become a licensed real estate person in Minnesota, you must complete 90 hours of pre-licensure training and pass the Real Estate Licensure exam. All three required pre-licensure courses will be delivered at Lake Superior College (Duluth, MN) starting January 19. Please note that the Interactive Television broadcast of these classes to BSU will no longer be offered. Click here for more information.

Engage Workplace Challenges and Work Together Better - Webinar Series
Have you ever experienced conflict in the workplace because of misunderstandings based on difference or had difficulty resolving disagreements in a positive manner? "Working Together Better" is a four-part series of webinars (online seminars) that addresses these challenges. Log into these presentation and discussion-based online courses from 11:00 am - 12:30 pm one Tuesday per month, starting on January 19 with "How People Work: Understanding and Valuing Differences." Register for single courses or receive a discount when registering for the entire series. Presented in collaboration with DS Performance Group.

Marketing for Small Businesses - Branding Your Small Business
Successful small businesses distinguish themselves from the rest of the pack. Seize on your organization's unique strengths and build a successful brand. This class on Wednesday, January 20, 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., is part of the "Marketing for Small Businesses" series which continues through April 2010 with classes on competing with mass retailers, electronic marketing, and more. For registration form click here. This series takes place at CRI and is co-sponsored by the Bemidji Chamber of Commerce, Paul Bunyan Telephone, and CRI/BSU.

Natural Resources Continuing Education Consortium Presents "Forest Management and Global Climate Change"
Join USDA Forest Service research ecologist John Bradford to learn and discuss the challenges that climate change presents to regional forests. This workshop will take place on Monday, January 25 at 3:00 p.m. at CRI.

Grant Writing - Online Course
Increase your organization's effectiveness and competitiveness as a skilled grant writer! Learn each step of writing a winning grant proposal from the letter of intent to letters of support. Write concise goals and needs statements, describe your organization and project or program, develop a budget, create an evaluation and project timeline, and collect supporting documents critical to the grant process. The course will take you through the Common Grant Application accepted by most foundations and giving organizations, and will give an overview of Federal grant formats. This course is offered online beginning Monday, January 25 with instructor Nate Dorr. More information and registration form are online.

Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance Building Operator Certification, Level 1
Building Operator Certification (BOC®) training includes nearly 80 hours of classroom and project work in building systems operation and maintenance. Each course in the series is completed in a one-day training session, except BOC 103 - HVAC Systems and Controls, which is a two-day course. To become certified, participants must pass an exam at the end of each day of training and complete assigned projects. Course will be offered beginning January 28 at Northwest Technical College. The cost of the training is $1,200. Register online at www.boccentral.org. For more information about BOC training, please contact James Pena at (312) 784-7277 or jpena@mwalliance.org. Click here for the flyer. Employees of Ottertail and Minnesota Power commercial customers may be reimbursed for the $1200 course fee if this course is taken and completed. For more information on this reimbursement, click here for Ottertail customers, or click here for Minnesota Power customers. 

Are you looking for new areas of expertise in order to advance your career? Did you know that if you can surf the web, you have the skills to take an online course? This winter take your professional development into your own hands--and your work or home computer--with an online course from CRI. Check out your options by clicking here!

CRI - December and January Office Closure Dates
Please note that the Center for Research and Innovation will be closed on Thursday-Friday, December 24-25; on Thursday-Friday, December 31-January 1; and on Monday, January 18.

Many other opportunities are coming soon. Watch our calendar of offerings from Bemidji State University Center for Research and Innovation and Northwest Technical College Custom College for all new course info.