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Agrifood Industry Receives Support from Provincial Government Through its Innovation Enhancement Program (IEP), the Provincial Government is investing $170,720 to increase the capacity of the College of the North Atlantic�s (CNA�s) Centre for Agrifood Development. Located at the CNA�s Carbonear Campus, the centre will assist local businesses in analyzing and marketing innovative agrifood products, and attracting new business opportunities for the industry.
Enhancements to the Centre for Agrifood Development include the addition of a food technologist and a plant co-ordinator, as well as upgrades to the centre�s test kitchen. These additions will enable the centre to offer food technology services and other supports to the agrifood industry to solve issues related to recipe development, packaging, food science and analysis. The centre will also respond to challenges related to import and export development, and assist with individual market assessments. "As we all know, the Centre for Agrifood Development is designed to improve the innovation capacity of the agrifood sector," says Jean Madill, President of CNA. "These additions will empower us to achieve our objectives of providing the platform for comprehensive training, research and product development support to the agrifood sector."
The College of the North Atlantic is one of Atlantic Canada�s largest post-secondary educational and skills-training centres. Its Office of Applied Research (OAR) supports and leads pan-provincial research in response to industry and community needs. Through the application and commercialization of new knowledge, as well as by way of technology transfer, the OAR contributes to the sustainable economic activity of many industries in addition to agrifoods, including ocean technology, telecommunications, petroleum, and manufacturing. "Through our investment in the CNA�s Centre for Agrifood Development, local businesses will be better positioned to develop and commercialize high-quality products enabling them to expand their market reach," said the Honourable Jerome Kennedy, MHA, Carbonear - Harbour Grace. "It is an important initiative that will further the growth and long-term sustainability of a key industry, along with increased capacity at Carbonear campus of the College of the North Atlantic." Administered by the Department of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development, the IEP provides non-repayable contributions up to 50 per cent of eligible project costs to a maximum of $250,000 per project. The program is available to public sector institutions, not-for-profit groups, community organizations and industry associations that are involved in activities that enhance innovation in the province. Funding is also available for the development and expansion of strategic industry clusters and for public/private research partnerships involved in the development of new technologies. - 30 -
Media contact: 2009 04 15 11:05 a.m. |
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