Professional Skills and Training

PTC's professional skills courses and programs are designed to give you the knowledge and skills you need to secure a position in a variety of professional settings or advance in your current professional position.

Small Business Smart Series

The Small Business Smart Series is a series of seminars designed for entrepreneurs and business owners wanting to make more money, avoid mistakes, and create a sustainable business strategy. (Delivery for personal or business training is available. Contact Heidi Braun, 320-629-5178 or e-mail braunh@pinetech.edu.)

Explore a New Business Opportunity
Ever have an idea about a business you thought was great but were nervous about "taking the plunge?" This course teaches you the tools used to evaluate the marketplace, mitigate the risks of a start-up, and analyze the financial realities BEFORE you invest in that new business or buy a business.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012 at PTC Room 70 Cost: $49.00

Fundamentals of Launching a Product
This seminar may possibly be the most important to any budding entrepreneur. Learn the concepts taught in college-level courses in just a few hours including the "5Ps"--Product, Promotion, Price, Place, and Positioning. All successful small business strategies must start with the mind of the consumer and then work backward. We will specifically cover HOW to do market research and the tools available to you.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012 at PTC Room 70 Cost: $49.00

Crafting A Business Plan and Forecasting Financials
This course walks you through the details and tactics of creating a comprehensive business plan while helping you avoid the critical planning mistakes that plague most plans. Starting with the essential financial forecasts, we will build on that to create the business plan necessary to secure a loan.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at PTC Room 70 Cost: $49.00

Finding Money For a Startup Business in Minnesota
In this course, we look at different forms of capital sources from venture capitalists, banks, local funding, to economic development agencies. Simply understanding the way a lender or investor thinks can more than double your effectiveness in raising money for your business. We will identify the top Minnesota investors and how to tap into local opportunities.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012 at PTC Room 70 Cost: $49.00

Small Business Legal and Insurance Seminar
This seminar will help keep you out of trouble! In this seminar, we will cover the basics of legal issues a small business owner will face. The legal structure needed to form your business, Insurance, contract law, debt collection, local ordinances, intellectual property, non-disclosure, patents, and state & federal regulation compliance.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012 at PTC Room 70 Cost: $49.00

Balance your Advertising Portfolio
It can be a mystery: How much should you spend on advertising? What should I spend my advertising dollars on? How do I know I am spending my money on the right things? Learn to spend only the money you need to maximize results. We will cover social media, e-commerce, and traditional methods examining the pros and cons of each.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012 at PTC Room 70 Cost: $49.00

The Fundamentals of Management Series

In today’s economy, a successful management system can mean the difference between staying in business and closing your doors. Through this Management Performance Series, you will learn the tools needed for successful management of your business, your employees, and your own skills in problem solving and decision making to improve productivity for you company. (Delivery for personal or business training is available. Contact Heidi Braun, 320-629-5178 or e-mail braunh@pinetech.edu.)

DISC: Dominance, Influence, Steadiness & Conscientiousness
DISC is a self-assessment that enables individuals to understand themselves and others. From the self-assessment, individuals learn how they behave during various situations from normal to stressful. In addition, individuals learn the traits, needs, preferences, and fears associated with each behavior profile. Finally, the profile allows the individuals to gain insight in how their behavior affects other individuals and how to segregate others’ behaviors into the profile system.

Relationship Management
The ability to manage relationships with peers, managers, and subordinates is a key success factor for organizational success. Participants exposure to the attributes of a respectful workplace allows for the application of specific tools for effective communication.

Performance Management
Management of employee performance is a key to achieving business objectives. Through an exploration of setting expectations, providing feedback, evaluating performance, and performance improvement action provides the impetus for leading high-performing, engaged employees.

Group or Team Management
Whether managing a small group of employees or a large team for a special project, there are challenges as well as opportunities when creating a high-performance team. From the understanding of the stages of team formation, a diagnostic tool is learned that will aid the group or team leader in moving toward a high-performing team.

Strengths Strategy -- Introduction to Strengths Discovery
Creating Results through Strengths... The introductory discovery experience has an approximate time commit-ment of 1-2 hours, depending on the needs of the group. It is a powerful overview, designed to prepare participants for the full 8-hour discovery program. Participants will understand how remarkable results can be produced through strengths; recognize the process of strengths discovery, development, and actualization; complete an assessment which reveals which activities play to Strength, Competence, Weakness, or Affinity; design strategies to increase the time spent in their A+ Strengths Zone, and develop their strengths and minimize their Suck Zone activities (opposite of activities within your job that energize you).

About the Instructor
The Fundamentals of Management Series is presented by Anne Klein. Klein has over twenty years of experience with Fortune 500 and large organizations in the manufacturing, financial services, energy, and healthcare industries. During her tenure, she has held progressive management positions in accounting/finance and human resources. Anne is a graduate of Augsburg College where she earned a BA in Economics and Business Administration.

All about Training via Corporate Interactive Television (ITV)...

ITV Training gives organizations greater opportunity for employee training in an extremely cost-effective way. Interactive Digital Television provides a range of services that combine video and data and give viewers greater control over what they see, in comparison with other traditional services. Moreover, ITV permits businesses to combine the full motion TV with the interactivity and personalization offered by the Internet. Benefits include: travel time can be minimized; participants are given the experience of collaborative learning -- of becoming part of a larger community of learners; cost-effectiveness; videoconferencing can be used to cater for a range of intelligences and learning styles; dring live training courses via ITV, trainees in remote offices can ask questions to the instructor for immediate feedback; and, boadcasts are also locally recorded so employees can replay and review lessons after the class.

Register for courses

-- Visit the CECT registration site
-- Click here to print a Registration Form

Professional Skills and Training