Sarah Courtney,Minister for Strategic Growth
The Tasmanian Government has a plan to rebuild our State’s economy from the impacts of COVID-19 and create more jobs and opportunities for all Tasmanians. This complements the aim of the Strategic Growth Portfolio, which late last year saw our Government commit $1 million to the George Town Municipality and surrounding areas to support projects that create jobs, skills, and training for business and community growth.
Since that announcement late last year, the George Town Future Impact Group has undertaken extensive consultation and worked with the community to identify gaps in existing support structures and programs to develop a strategy with three integrated components:
The Launchpad: a central community space, equipped and staffed specifically to support a socially inclusive environment and targeted skills development. The Hub will stimulate learning, innovation and business co-production.
Renew George Town: an urban renewal model to revitalise the main street of George Town by utilising empty buildings on the main street as temporary homes to pop up shops, creative projects, community groups, incubator hubs and start-ups at little cost.
Digital Warriors: a community-run digital literacy support program to digitally connect and enable our community to learn and participate in regionally designed opportunities.
All this hard work is captured in the Future Impact Strategy – Sustainable and Social Growth in the George Town Municipality.
I am pleased to confirm that our Government will fund up to $1 million to support delivery of the three projects.
Strategic Growth is about being agile and responsive, addressing issues, places and groups of people with similar needs in a way that recognises the unique challenges faced by different communities across Tasmania.
It involves working with businesses and industries to understand their future skills needs and ensuring that Tasmanians have the right education, training and opportunity to meet those needs.
George Town is an exciting example that will guide how communities can work together to understand opportunities for growth and address the social, education and skills, health and wellbeing needs in communities to drive sustainable change.
I’d like to applaud the Future Impact Group, the Future Impact Leadership Table and the George Town Council, who through investment in this site and deep involvement in the work of the Future Impact Group, show the value in local and State Government’s working together with community and industry.
Tasmania’s economy has been robust and is growing, even in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is crucial that opportunities arising from our strong economy can be accessed across regions and communities.
