RAD Card program a hit. Here’s what Modesto council members plan to do next.
Economic Development Committee members on Thursday approved a recommendation for the Modesto City Council to fund the RAD Card program for an additional $650,000.
Thursday’s special meeting was called to discuss the ways the city has supported small businesses throughout the pandemic and provide information about the funding the city will receive through the American Rescue Plan Act, the $1.9 trillion federal stimulus package. Committee members spoke about different ideas for how the city can best use its $47.3 million in allocated funding for business and community support.
The RAD Card, developed by the Downtown Modesto Partnership, a nonprofit that bolsters businesses in the city center, launched in August.
Customers can buy up to $100 in a gift card at any participating downtown business across Stanislaus and the RAD Card program — which stands for Relief Across Downtown — matches the amount. The first iteration of the program, with $150,000 in funds for use at downtown Modesto businesses, sold out in 2 1/2 weeks.
The program, which was initially funded through donations, received a $1 million boost in funds from Stanislaus County’s CARES Act funding in October.
“It did so much good work to keep our businesses solvent that when the CARES Act funds came around, county staff saw this and said, ‘Man, this is a great program and we want to contribute toward it,’” said Josh Bridegroom the CEO of the Downtown Modesto Partnership.
That million was exhausted in a matter of weeks, he added, so the county authorized another $1 million for the RAD Card program in December. Bridegroom said those funds are nearly exhausted as well, with a chunk of money remaining that was set aside to ensure an equitable distribution of funds across different communities.
Councilman Chris Ricci expressed his support for funding the program.
“We know that restaurants have been struggling for over a year now,” he said. “We have a program here with the RAD Card that’s being utilized by cities all over the state ... we have the county that’s donated money to the program, but we haven’t given this super successful homegrown program money out of the city.”
Much of the funds being spent downtown
According to city staff, the program has secured over $1.2 million in donor and customer funds. Of that, $850,000 have been spent downtown in Modesto, and $447,000 remain unspent. The spend rate for the program is at $212,000 per month.
Bridegroom on Thursday stressed the importance of the program for businesses across the county, adding that for many, the influx of customers from the RAD Card program were instrumental to remain operational.
“A lot of businesses are telling us they would have shut their doors if it weren’t for this program,” Bridegroom said at the meeting.
He added that the seven or eight businesses he reached out to for feedback said about 30-40% of their sales have been tied to the RAD Card.
“That’s the difference between do or die,” he said, “between existing and not existing.”
Heidi Savage, the executive director of the Modesto Downtown Improvement District, said she regularly hears from downtown businesses who ask when the next round of RAD Card funding will become available to them.
Councilman Tony Madrigal stressed the importance of acting quickly to approve RAD Card funds now, before consumers ramp up spending as indoor dining reopens across Stanislaus and the program’s funds are fully depleted.
“They’re looking for this lifeline now,” he said. “The spending rate of these customers is increasing week by week. ... We’re going to get to the point where this RAD Card program runs out of money ... because the customers end up coming around and spending that money that they were saving on their RAD Cards.”
Madrigal said council members have found themselves in “urgency situations” before, where they are forced to act quickly to approve programs and funds once existing money is used up, and approving RAD Card funding now will help avoid that scenario. Council members also discussed the option of eventually scaling up the RAD Card program to businesses all across the city, not just downtown.
Thursday’s motion, which was unanimously approved, instructs city staff to outline a funding source for the $650,000 designated for the RAD Card program. The topic will be further discussed at the April 6 City Council meeting.
“We need to do a better job about standing up for our people and our business owners,” Ricci said. “Our businesses need our help now.”
This story has been updated to correct the motion approved by the committee. Committee members discussed, but did not recommend an expansion of the RAD Card program.
This story was produced with financial support from the Stanislaus Community Foundation, along with the GroundTruth Project’s Report for America initiative. The Modesto Bee maintains full editorial control of this work.
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This story was originally published March 29, 2021 at 4:00 AM.
