Could iconic toymaker Hasbro Inc. really move its headquarters out of Rhode Island? Sure it can, especially if the move wouldn’t cost it much of its local workforce.
The company, which employs about 1,600 locally, has only acknowledged publicly it is considering a new location in the vicinity of its Pawtucket headquarters. That would normally not spark major panic among local officials, except that the Massachusetts border is less than a mile away.
The company could move its headquarters out of the state and still keep many of its 1,000 current Pawtucket employees. It could also still maintain a presence in Rhode Island, where it also operates a Central Falls facility and Providence offices.
That’s not the scenario state and local officials hope to see, of course. But what can they do to avoid it?
First, press for a clear answer from the company about what, if anything, it wants from them.
If Hasbro, which has been a good corporate citizen during its 95-year history in Rhode Island, is considering moving its headquarters out of state, it should stop being coy and say that.
If the answer is yes, then state leaders must quickly decide if the state can provide what the company wants to stay. So far, they have acknowledged the threat. Now they need to show they know how to respond to it.
If anything was learned from the Pawtucket Red Sox’s decision to leave Rhode Island, it is that there is no room for ambiguity in intent or competing agendas among state and local officials when local jobs and revenue are at stake.
