North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) has collaborated with IowaWorks and Employers’ Council of Iowa to offer Welcoming & Retaining Diverse Talent, a half-day seminar designed to help area businesses grow and strengthen through diversity. In addition to developing an understanding of cultural issues, participants will learn the importance of workplace diversity, best practices for recruiting and onboarding a diverse workforce, ways to recognize and avoid bias, and proper training of supervisors. The seminar, led by Russ Curry and Victor Oyervides, will take place at NIACC on Tuesday, February 12^th, 2019 from 8:00 am – noon. Tuition is $75 per participant, which includes a light breakfast. Participants are eligible to receive 3 SHRM or HRCI recertification credits. For more information, or to register for this event, visit niacc.augusoft.net or contact the NIACC Continuing Education office at 641-422-4358.

 Russ Curry, SPHR, SHRM-SCP is a forward-thinking and results-oriented business leader with over 28 years of human resource experience in a wide range of multi-channel environments including manufacturing, technology, retail, health care and transportation/logistics. His experience ranges from small start-ups to publicly traded Fortune 500 companies. For the last 15 years, Russ has served at the vice president/executive level to help drive organizational change in alignment with strategic objectives. Russ is a seasoned and successful leader in strategic planning and execution, talent development, performance measurement, hiring and retention, employment law, change management, employee engagement, diversity and inclusion and manager/supervisor training. His approach has been described as welcoming, engaging, and culturally responsive at all levels. Russ also provides services in partnership with Kirkwood Community College, Indian Hills Community College, Iowa State University (CIRAS), North Iowa Area Community College, and Northeast Iowa Community College.

Victor Oyervides, native of Saltillo, Mexico, has worked with Iowa State University Extension & Outreach for 4 years, initially as Latino Community Liaison and now as Retail Business Specialist, after having been the Southeast Iowa Regional Director of the Emprendedores (Entrepreneurs) Latinos de Iowa program at the Iowa Center for Economic Success. As Retail Business Specialist, Victor provides educational opportunities and programs, consultation, and technical assistance for retail business owners and communities seeking to build stronger local retail economies. Victor also works with and builds relationships with Latino businesses and communities in eastern and central Iowa. Recently, the Latino Business and Entrepreneurship Team from ISUEO – CED, of which he is a part, was presented the Iowa State University Award for Achievement in Economic Development.

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