Just over 250 have downloaded EDA cash back app

A pilot program by Isle of Wight County’s Economic Development Authority that pays cash back to shoppers who patronize businesses affected by the rehabilitation of the Cypress Creek Bridge still has more than two-thirds of its startup money available.

The EDA committed $5,000 to launch Open Rewards, a free smartphone app developed by California-based technology company Bludot, which allows shoppers to earn 5%, or up to $10, cash back on purchases at participating businesses on Main and North and South Church streets in downtown Smithfield.

According to Isle of Wight Economic Development Director Kristi Sutphin, $1,464, or 29%, of the $5,000 has been paid to 257 users of the app since its May 20 debut. Of 123 businesses deemed eligible to participate, 49 have seen transactions generate rewards through the program.

There is no cost to the business or the consumer to participate. Customers can earn cash back by downloading the app, available at https://www.bludot.io/open-rewards-isleofwight for Android and iPhone devices, and using it to scan their receipts from purchases at participating businesses.

According to Economic Development Coordinator Nicole Talton, new businesses along Main and Church streets that have opened since the estimated two-year bridge rehabilitation began in January are also eligible to participate.

To date, the app hasn’t seen the same interest as past initiatives such as the 2020 #IsleShopSmall gift certificate program, which allowed locals and tourists to purchase up to five $40 gift certificates at participating businesses for $20 apiece in hopes of keeping afloat businesses that were forced to reduce hours or shutter during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The county and towns of Smithfield and Windsor each contributed portions of the federal funding they’d received through that year’s Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security, or CARES, Act to fund the difference. During the first round of #IsleShopSmall, 5,000 certificates funded with a combined $105,000 in CARES money sold out in an hour and a half in November of that year.

The Virginia Department of Transportation awarded the $8.6 million Cypress Creek Bridge contract last year to Portsmouth-based Crofton Construction, which in January restricted the circa-1975 bridge that connects Smithfield’s historic district with the east end of town to a single westbound lane heading into downtown, detouring eastbound traffic to the Route 10 Bypass. Bumper-to-bumper rush-hour traffic has become a more frequent sight on Main Street in the months since, with some business owners reporting a decline in sales they attribute to the change in traffic flow. The bridge is expected to reopen in mid- to late 2025.