A new joint venture between the Local Government Federal Credit Union and UNC's School of Government will help cities, towns and counties develop financing tools and training local government officials to develop finance programs.

The credit union is giving the School of Government $1 million for a program called Expanding Development Finance in North Carolina, which will give economically-distressed communities access to sophisticated finance products and services.

The $1 million is expected to fund the project for five years, after which it is expected to become self-sustaining.
 
The second initiative is the credit union's Fellows Executive Development Program, which will teach mid-level managers in local government the skills needed to build and manage development finance programs.

A $625,000 grant will develop the program and subsidize course registration fees for three groups of fellows.

The UNC School of Government is holding a workshop series on "Resolving Public Disputes," with elected officials particularly in mind, among other people.

Oct. 21 is "Managing High Emotion and Contention in Public Hearings and Meetings." From the class description:

"Participants will focus on preparing for and handling highly contentious issues and angry, disruptive behavior in public hearings. They will learn techniques for responding to attacks ... Learn more and register online at www.sog.unc.edu/courses/0695."

Bull's Eye can think of a certain Board of County Commissioners that might want to sign up.

Some scholarships are available.