Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien said Wednesday that the city is bracing for the impact of Hasbro’s decision to relocate its headquarters from Rhode Island to Boston next year, a move he described as disappointing, but not surprising.
In an interview with The Public’s Radio’s Luis Hernandez, Grebien recalled finding out about the move only after employees had already been notified. “We got a quick call from the attorney to the chief of staff here… but it was after they had already told the employees the news,” he said.
The mayor added that while the timing of the announcement caught City Hall off guard, the direction of the company had been clear for some time. “The biggest surprise would’ve been if they told us they were staying,” Grebien said. “For the last 10, 15 years … the writing’s been on the wall.”
Hasbro, founded in Rhode Island in 1923, has been headquartered in Pawtucket for decades.
The company announced last week that it will consolidate operations in a new downtown Boston office tower, citing access to a larger talent pool and proximity to other corporate partners. The decision will affect hundreds of Rhode Island employees, though it remains unclear how many will transfer to Massachusetts or be left behind.
Grebien said Pawtucket put forward a competitive package to keep Hasbro in the city, offering the company the Apex site near the new soccer stadium and promising a Tax-Increment Financing deal. But Hasbro showed little interest.
“We weren’t getting the engagement that you would’ve thought you would’ve got if they were willing to stay,” Grebien said, describing the company’s leadership under new CEO Chris Cocks as less responsive than in the past. “I think they’ve made a significant mistake.”
Looking ahead, Grebien said the city is focused on reimagining Hasbro’s sprawling campus and supporting Pawtucket’s “renaissance,” which he described as driven by small businesses, housing development, and commuter-rail access.
“It’s small businesses, right? Retail, again, it’s having a place that people want to live, keeping costs down,” he said. “We want to support those types of businesses that want to be here.”
At the same time, Grebien acknowledged the budget impact of losing a corporation of Hasbro’s scale. “A business like that brings in value in taxes at a different rate than a private homeowner,” he said. “When the big industrial folks close down or move away, the burden becomes on the smaller homeowners. That’s what we have to balance.”
Despite the frustration, Grebien said he hopes Hasbro will at least keep a footprint in Rhode Island and work with the city on a transition plan. “We need to understand their timeline,” he said, “and then what are the next steps so we can get in that building in the timeframe.”
