PROVIDENCE – Hilary Fagan will become R.I. Commerce Corp.’s new president next month, replacing Jesse Saglio.
The quasi-public agency announced late Monday that Fagan, R.I. Commerce’s current executive vice president of business development, will assume the president’s role on March 5. Saglio, who has served as R.I. Commerce’s president since December 2017, will leave the agency to return to the private sector.
R.I. Commerce Secretary Stefan Pryor in a statement said that Saglio, “has made enormously valuable contributions to the Commerce team’s efforts as we’ve worked to rebuild our economy in the lingering aftermath of the Great Recession and more recently in the wake of the pandemic-related downturn.”
Fagan has served as executive vice president of business development since she joined the agency in 2016. She built a team, developed and executed a business- development strategy for the state across targeted sectors for business growth, including bioscience and the blue economy.
Before joining R.I. Commerce, Fagan was a director in the corporate client group with NASDAQ in Washington, D.C. She also was a research sales associated at Morgan Stanley in New York.
Fagan has helped existing Rhode Island businesses expand and new businesses come to the state, said Pryor.
“Hilary exemplifies professionalism, proactivity, and tenacity – qualities that will continue to serve her and the organization well as she steps into the position of corporation president,” Pryor said.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
