Launceston on the rise with local enterprise

Thriving as a world-leading culinary destination, Launceston is becoming a go-to destination for foodies, and business is booming.

Tasmania has largely overcome its cartographical complex. Having made a place for itself in the world’s gastronomic imagination, it no longer matters so much that the island is occasionally left off the Australian map. In the Tamar Valley city of Launceston, entrepreneur Kim Seagram AM MAICD has added a new dimension to the state’s reputation as a world-renowned food bowl and wine cellar with FermenTasmania, an incubator, developer and promoter of fermented goods, and a flag-bearer for their health benefits.

“The project is anchored in the fact that in Tasmania we know we can produce internationally competitive wine, beer, cider and whisky,” says Canadian-born Seagram. “But there’s so much more. We have a dairy industry on its knees and we need to be clever about value-adding. We can take inspiration from the cool-climate wine industry here and start making internationally recognised cheese, yoghurt and other dairy products. We have to look at traditional sourdough breads, especially as gluten intolerance hits new highs.

“Pickling is another area we’re keen to explore. Our Asian neighbours, from India to Japan, eat pickles for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We have ‘seconds’ in our agriculture industry that don’t make the supermarket grade, which we currently plough back into the earth or feed to pigs, cows and other livestock. There is a huge opportunity to extract much more value from this produce through the relatively simple process of pickling.”

A report, Horizon 2021: City of Launceston Economic Development Strategy, produced for the City of Launceston council, estimates the city’s gross regional product at $3.85b, about 15 per cent of Tasmania’s gross state product.

Other findings in the report include that the city with a population of 67,000 serves as a catchment for almost 145,000 people. In terms of tourism, AFL fixtures played by the Hawthorn Football Club at University of Tasmania Stadium generate $17.5m in direct expenditure to Tasmania each year. However, Horizon 2021 noted the city’s limitations for tourism are a lack of conference facilities, five-star accommodation and restaurant options, so it called for a three-year action plan to explore tourism opportunities.

A new report for the Northern Tasmania Development Corporation, The RED Strategy: 2019, says tourism employs 10.9 per cent of residents in the region, whereas healthcare and social assistance employs 16.2 per cent, and food and agribusiness 6.3 per cent.

Dr Jerome Muir Wilson GAICD grew up in Stanley, a peninsula about three hours’ drive north-west of Launceston. He has moved back to his home state to establish the Launceston Health Hub, a clinic of co-located practitioners and medical services that employs 100 people.

Muir Wilson graduated from James Cook University in Queensland in 2007 and returned to Tasmania to work near his family. He met his wife, a Launceston Health Hub co-founder, when they were junior doctors working at the Launceston General Hospital.

At the time, he knew of the health needs in regional areas and was also frustrated by how hard it was to find a doctor for himself. “I found 17 of the 21 medical practices had their books closed to new patients, so I decided to do something to help meet this need,” says Muir Wilson.

The centre opened in 2014 and has seen 75,000 different patients. Staff include 20 general practitioners, 16 specialists and 12 allied health professionals. In November 2019, the hub, which also has a cafe and pharmacy, expanded to open a childcare centre on its roof, with room for 120 children, and purchased a neighbouring property to allow for future expansion. A day hospital, radiology service and an urgent care centre are under consideration.

Muir Wilson, who received AICD Tasmania’s inaugural Young Achiever Award in 2019, says that as managing director and co-owner with Dr Gaurav Singh, a Brisbane-based doctor he met at university, strategy and managing risk have been keys to building the business. “When I first learned about risk in the Company Directors Course, I thought it was a handbrake, all negative, but I have learned that without risk and innovation you will stagnate,” says Muir Wilson.

The course also covered managing financials, something Muir Wilson says wasn’t addressed in his medical degree. The training has been useful, as the health hub has spent $13m in building projects over five years.

“GPs are in touch with community needs and it’s clear Launceston needs more specialist medical services,” he says. “Launceston had no neurologist so we employed a fly-in/fly-out specialist once a month from Melbourne. It can be hard to find and retain doctors in a regional area so we have approached it as a doctor-friendly model of care and offer flexible working hours. We offer work from 7am to 9pm and everyone does one shift a week in our walk-in clinic.

“The 300-bed Launceston General Hospital has told us our clinic has reduced the number of people going to emergency for issues that should be treated by GPs. There has been a positive response to our walk-in clinic and it has reduced the number of patients turning to hospital emergency.”

Given the hub is a for-profit health centre, Muir Wilson unsurprisingly speaks freely about the advantages of working in the for-profit sector.

“We didn’t want to rely on not-for-profit grants,” he says. “It’s important the programs we start can be ongoing and not rely on funding applications. We bulk bill those who can’t afford a co-payment, such as children and aged pensioners.”

Another major project planned for Launceston is the $344m University of Tasmania campus in the town’s centre. Vice-Chancellor Professor Rufus Black says the project is a cornerstone of the region’s revitalisation and will include clusters of townhouse-style accommodation for students. Stage one is expected to be completed by the end of 2021.