When the Pawtucket Red Sox pulled up stakes and left for Massachusetts in 2020, state officials helped finance a $137 million soccer stadium as a consolation gift for Pawtucket.
Now that global toymaker Hasbro Inc. has announced it will be moving to Boston by the end of next year and taking 700 jobs with it, Pawtucket officials are going to be looking for help again, if not at the same level as the last time.
Mayor Donald R. Grebien says there have been early discussions with Gov. Daniel J. McKee's office and the General Assembly leadership about providing the city with new economic development "tools" to attract new business and support existing ones.
Grebien didn't detail what those tools might be in a statement to Providence Business News. "We plan to introduce a comprehensive package during the next General Assembly session," the mayor said.
He says the city has also been in contact with the R.I. Department of Labor & Training, which is ready to assist Hasbro employees "in their time of transition."
Despite the impending loss of a large employer in the city, state Rep. Karen Alzate, D-Pawtucket, says she is buoyed by the mixed-use development underway along the city's riverfront – including a planned pedestrian bridge and riverwalk – anchored by the 10,000-seat Centreville Bank Stadium.
“Our focus now is on the stadium and the potential it holds for attracting businesses and new opportunities to the city,” she said. “We are on the brink of a significant resurgence. While this loss is felt, it also presents a great opportunity.”
Grebien says he doesn't really see many parallels between the PawSox and Hasbro departures.
When PawSox owners confirmed they may be leaving, years of negotiations culminated in a $84 million deal to construct a new stadium for the team, which the ownership rejected.
While many criticized then-Gov. Gina M. Raimondo, she held the legislature responsible for delaying and revising the agreement negotiated by her administration.
This time, Grebien says, state and local officials worked to develop a proposal for a new Hasbro headquarters along the Blackstone River, although the state offered the company a parcel of prime real estate in Providence, too.
"Unfortunately, Hasbro didn’t recognize the tremendous growth and innovative development that is currently happening in both the city of Pawtucket and the state of Rhode Island," Grebien said.
Hasbro’s decadeslong evolution from a Rhode Island toymaker into an international entertainment conglomerate that happened to be headquartered in Pawtucket meant relocation was likely inevitable no matter what the city or state offered, Alzate says.
In several news reports, House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi had said Hasbro had not asked for any incentives, adding that he was willing to bring a proposal before the House to grant Hasbro a $1 million annual subsidy.
But, according to Alzate, Hasbro had requests that the state could not accommodate, such as facilitating direct flights between Providence and Seattle, where its gaming division is located.
The General Assembly leadership was willing to lobby Breeze Airways to provide the route, but that didn't cut it. Larry Berman, spokesperson for Shekarchi, acknowledged that Hasbro wanted direct service from a legacy airline.
“They were very specific with everything they wanted,” Alzate said. “They wanted a major corporate airline like American Airlines. That’s beyond our control.”
Pawtucket City Council member Mark J. Wildenhain, who represents District 2, where Hasbro is located, is sad to see the company but doesn't blame Hasbro executives for wanting to relocate to Boston. "Ultimately, it boils down to dollars and cents," he said.
Wildenhain says state and local officials tried their best to keep Hasbro in Rhode Island, within reason.
“It often happens that these companies assume they have you over the barrel and you’ll eventually knuckle under,” he said. “This is just another challenge the Grebien administration has faced over the years.”
“We said, ‘Okay, we can’t match that. Have a nice day,' " he said. "Now let’s focus on how we move on from that.”
