PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island’s political leaders are set to meet in December to discuss how to respond to Pawtucket-based toymaker Hasbro Inc. considering moving its corporate headquarters.
Gov. Gina M. Raimondo is scheduled to meet Dec. 11 with state Sen. President Dominick J. Ruggerio and state House Speaker Nicholas A. Mattiello, Mattiello spokesman Larry Berman told Providence Business News.
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“They’ll be strategizing how to proceed,” he said.
One of the issues expected to be discussed is whether the state should offer Hasbro any incentives to keep its headquarters in Pawtucket or within Rhode Island, Berman said.
Once deciding how to proceed, the leaders are expected to meet with Hasbro executives, he said.
Among the world’s largest makers of toys and games, Hasbro employs some 1,600 people in Rhode Island. In addition to the Pawtucket headquarters, the company has an office building in downtown Providence and a smaller facility in Central Falls.
Hasbro officials have not publicly discussed the sites the company is considering, except that it is looking for a more modern facility “in the vicinity” of its Pawtucket location, less than a mile from the Massachusetts state line.
“We are in the process of evaluating several options for contemporizing our corporate headquarters, including finding a new corporate campus,” Hasbro spokeswoman Julie Duffy said in a statement.
“We are committed to delivering a fully updated, connected and flexible workspace for all of our employees, and want to find the right solution that will ultimately create the best corporate headquarters for Hasbro into the future,” she said.
Troubled by the situation, Pawtucket Mayor Donald R. Grebien held a news conference earlier this month to appeal to state officials for help to keep the company in Pawtucket.
Already, the city is set to lose another iconic brand in 2021, when minor league baseball franchise Pawtucket Red Sox plans to relocate to a new stadium in Worcester, Mass.
In other Hasbro news, the company announced this month it has entered into a licensing agreement with Los Angeles-based Kilburn Live, a family-entertainment production company, to create, build and operate Hasbro-themed family-entertainment centers across the United States and Canada. The indoor entertainment centers are to feature iconic Hasbro brands.
Scott Blake is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Blake@PBN.com.
