March
2004
CRI
News is an online
business resource from Bemidji State University Center for
Research and Innovation. If you have ideas to be shared, please
follow our instructions below.
Access Valuable Data for Grant
Writing
"Social and Economic Information
for Winning Grants" is specifically designed to meet the unique
needs of both beginning and advanced grant writers. Participants
will learn to access valuable data for their specific interest
area. The steep competition for funding requires the writer to
have more in-depth demographic information to write a more
compelling proposal. This hands-on workshop will give you a disk
containing data showing demographic trends of MN counties,
computer-generated maps of MN counties, and a "Top 10" list of
internet links for no-hassle access to the data you need.
The class is scheduled
March 10 from 9am to 12 noon at a cost of $60. Click here to learn about other grant writing
courses available through the Center for Research and
Innovation.
Quickbooks Class Offered
Small business owners
often use Quickbooks to track their financials but don’t know how
to get the full benefit of the program. This class will help them
spend less time on bookwork and more time on growing the business.
The CRI will offer a two-day Quickbooks software course to improve
business efficiency and effectiveness on March 16 and 23, or April
13 and 20. The class will meet from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on both dates
and cost $240 for 12 hours of training. The cost covers all
materials and the licensing fee to participate in the lab with
hands-on training. Class size is limited to 10 and
pre-registration is required through the CRI. The trainer will be
Michelle Landsverk who is a QuickBooks Certified Pro-Advisor.
Training is open to anyone, but will be particularly beneficial
for small business owners and managers interested in better using
the software to improve efficiency.
"Peatlands of Northern Minnesota: Ecology and
Economy" scheduled March 23
What is
so special about the world class Red Lake peatland? Join us for
the day as speakers from across the state share knowledge and
information collected during nearly 3 decades of research and
study in the peatlands of northern Minnesota. The $50 registration
fee covers the full-day workshop at the Norwegian Village of
Concordia Language Villages, lunch, snacks and all materials. The
registration deadline has been extended to March 12. Click
here to learn more or to register.
Dr Mark Fulton Presents
Workshop
The Bemidji Area Natural Resources
Continuing Education Consortium presents Dr. Mark Fulton,
Associate Professor of Biology at Bemidji State University.
Dr. Fulton will present "What good is a computer model? Uses and
abuses of models in ecology and natural resources work" on
Tuesday, March 30 at 3pm. There is no charge to attend the
presentation held at the Center for Research and Innovation.
Click
here to learn about other upcoming presentations.
Academy of Lifelong Learning Begins
Spring Series
The Academy of Lifelong
Learning, a learning in retirement network, will begin the spring
series on March 30 with Evan Hazard discussing "An Age of
Science?" Presentations will continue weekly with different
speakers and topics. All presentations begin at 10am at the CRI
located at 3801 Bemidji Avenue N. The educational seminars are
free and open to the public. To learn more about the Academy of
Lifelong Learning, including the full schedule of presentations
and how to see a video tape of sessions you may have missed, click
here. Check out the Academy of Lifelong Learning Spring Newsletter here.
Help Frame the Future of the Bemidji
Region
Jump on the Northern
Tier High Technology Corridor and read about the collaborative
effort between the Joint Economic Development Commission and the
Headwaters Regional Development Commission "Bemidji Leads!"
effort. Bemidji Leads! is a strategic visioning process created to
identify the future of Bemidji in terms of its quality of place
and economic destiny. If you are interested in participating in
framing the future of the region, start here!
NW Regional Small Business Development
Center
Congratulations
Clients
EnTech Industries, Inc.
of East Grand Forks engineers, manufactures, and sells the Cyclone
Series of high performance dust collectors, GRS Grit Recycling
Systems, and a variety of custom products. The company's
commitments to its customers, the environment, and to maintaining
high quality standards are just a few of the reasons why they
continue to grow. The NW SBDC helped develop their business plan
and financial projections for the new owner, Mark
LaPlante.
The Quilted
Loon will soon be celebrating its first year of business. The
Quilted Loon is an all inclusive quilt shop and scrapbook supply
center in Bemidji, MN. Their goal is to offer a wide variety of
fabrics and patterns that appeal to people from all walks of life
and ages. The owner also provides a variety of training for
quilters. The NW SBDC assisted with the business plan and cash
flow.
SBA Express Training Offered at
CRI
The Minnesota SBA and
the NW Regional Small Business Development Center are offering
training on SBA Express, the fastest growing program for SBA
nation-wide and in Minnesota. Although it was not introduced in
Minnesota until January 2003, by fiscal year end, September 30th,
SBA Express accounted for 21% of loan guarantees. So far in Fiscal
Year 2004, SBAExpress is accounting for over 40% of SBA’s loan
guarantees. Learn more about this program on April 1, from
10am-12noon at the CRI. Click here for more
details.
Learn how to do Business with the State
of Minnesota
Join Paul Stembler, Assistant
Director, Materials Management Division, MN Department of
Administration to get an overview about contracting with the
State. Learn the State's expectations of contractors by attending
this workshop on April 16, 9am-12pm at the CRI. Stembler will also
speak about cooperative purchasing ventures within MN units of
government from 1-3pm on April 16. Learn how this program is
structured and how to become a member. Both sessions are available
at no cost, but registration is required. Contact the CRI for
additional information at 218 755 4900 / 888 738 3224 or email
cri@bemidjistate.edu.
The Center for
Research and Innovation along with the NW Minnesota Regional Small
Business Development Center provide a full range of business and
career services. The Minnesota Small Business Development
Center program is funded by the U.S. Small Business
Administration, the Minnesota Department of Employee and Economic
Development, and sponsoring centers. SBA’s funding is not an
endorsement of any products, opinions or services. All SBA funded
programs are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory
basis.The People Connection is partially funded by the U.S. Small
Business Administration's Office of Women's Business Ownership
(OWBO). OWBO is the only office in the federal government
established to help women become full partners in economic
development through small business ownership. SBA's cooperation
does not constitute or imply its endorsement of any opinions,
products and/or services. Reasonable
earrangements for persons
with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in
advance.
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218 755 4900 / 888 738 3224 http://www.cri-bsu.org/
