Modesto considers $450,000 agreement for economic development

A City Council committee will consider Monday a new, six-year $450,000 agreement between Modesto and Opportunity Stanislaus for economic development services.

Opportunity Stanislaus – formerly known as the Stanislaus Business Alliance – has provided these services for Modesto since 2003, according to a city staff report. The new agreement calls for Modesto to pay Opportunity Stanislaus $75,000 annually. The city can opt out of the agreement each year if Opportunity Stanislaus is not meeting its expectations.

Opportunity Stanislaus CEO Dave White said his organization has a roughly $2 million annual budget with $1 million of that coming from its private and public sector investors, which includes local businesses and Stanislaus County and its nine cities.

The agreement calls for Modesto to pay Opportunity Stanislaus for the fiscal year that ended June 30. White said his organization performed services for Modesto in that year and the city budgeted money for those services but no agreement was in place to pay Opportunity Stanislaus. White said that was an oversight and was caught when Opportunity Stanislaus invoiced Modesto for its services.

The council’s Effective Government Committee will consider the new agreement. City staff is asking the committee to forward the agreement to the full council for adoption. The agreement cannot take effect without council approval.

The committee meets at 5 p.m. in Room 2005 on the second floor of Tenth Street Place, 1010 10th St.

This story was originally published October 21, 2016 at 8:14 PM with the headline "Modesto considers $450,000 agreement for economic development."