FermenTasmania and the West Tamar Council put ink to paper last week in formalising their agreement to establish an innovation hub in Legana.
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Announced in 2019, the hub would serve as an incubator for equipment, education and growth for Northern Tasmania's produce industries.
The formal signing of a memorandum of understanding by West Tamar Council general manager Rolph Vos and FermenTasmania chairperson Kim Seagram AM cemented both parties' commitment.
"We are so excited to have the support of West Tamar as a founding partner on our journey," Ms Seagram said.
In other news:
"We have already seen the creative sparks that occur when we connect our sourdough bakers with our sparkling winemakers, and we want all fermenters, amateur and professional, to have a chance to grow these connections.
"Working with partners like the West Tamar Council will let us create a physical space for this to occur, building on the work currently delivered through our Food Innovation Australia Cluster Program funding. Through the craft of fermentation, we can transform our food, our people and Tasmania."
The centre is proposed to be operational by 2022, estimated to cost about $16 million.
Of that, about $3 million will be for fit-out and equipment promised under major capital funding with another $2.5 million going to ancillary works by West Tamar Council as well as land donated valued at $500,000.
FermenTasmania is lobbying for funding as part of federal government stimulus measures.