Drake University’s Center for Professional Studies will host a pair of one-day seminars that teach business professionals to understand and interpret financial statements. Each seminar provides attendees with the knowledge and skills they need to make good business decisions using the information contained within financial statements. Both seminars are held from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.: the Friday, April 20 session focuses on financial statements for banks, and the Thursday, May 10 session focuses on financial statements of insurance companies. Gary Porter, distinguished lecturer in Drake’s College of Business and Public Administration, will lead both seminars. Porter has led numerous training programs for bankers in Chicago; he teaches a graduate-level course at Drake on the financial services industry and previously worked as a staff accountant for Deloitte & Touche. The cost of $229 (per seminar) includes all necessary materials and a catered lunch. More information and registration is online.

— Lisa Boes, Center for Professional Studies