Dorset Council

Dorset EDG is managed by a volunteer board of local persons with a diverse involvement in business, agriculture and local Government. The organisation was initially funded by a donation from Simplott Australia as a form of compensation to the district after it's closure of the Scottsdale vegetable processing facility. This funding was added to by S... tate and Federal Governments, and Dorset EDG was able to employ an Executive Officer to manage the organisation. The Tasmanian Government continues to fund this position on a year to year basis, which is unfortunately not conducive to the engagement of a long term Executive Officer to further the work of Dorset EDG. The early role of Dorset EDG was to administer the funds from Simplott in the form of a local small business development grant scheme. A board committee assessed proposals for displaced Simplott employees wanting to establish self employment enterprises, and approved small assistance grants accordingly. When this pool of grant funding was exhausted, Dorset EDG turned to investigating bigger picture commercial developments for Dorset. The role of the organisation in this period has been one of facilitation, whereby the volunteer board has worked to bring potential developers together with local stakeholders to explore new development opportunities in the region. While many and varied opportunities have been pursued, the re-hashing of some previous investigation into water development and dairying has shown the most promise of any of Dorset EDG's work.Read More