02/14/08 WSU Partnership

WSU Partnership. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. There have been some challenges in getting the Walter Clore Wine & Culinary Center off the ground but a recent partnership with WSU appears to be the push needed to break ground and get the doors open according to wine maker and Clore board member Mike Hogue. HOGUE: Well I think it is a partnership that we really needed in order to get the Clore Center to its completion which is a big project and with their expertise and experience I think they are a strategic partner. I think they can provide the catalyst to complete the project. Hogue says that WSU brings a lot to the table. HOGUE: They've got a culinary school, they've got a communication school an ag school. They're the ones that can help up tell the story about our viticultural area and our farming activities and I think of the Clore Center as  this is about Eastern Washington. It's about farming. It's about our wine industry. It's an icon along the Washington Wine Highway there in Prosser and the timing is just right and we are really happy to have them on board. He feels that they are still a year to two years away from seeing the center up and running. HOGUE: Lots of good things can happen from this but our next step is to get our industry to buy in. We need of course the support of the wine industry and other agricultural commodities. The Clore Center hopes to feature all of what Eastern Washington agriculture has to offer, not just wine. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.