Pawtucket Mayor Grebien is looking forward after Hasbro move announcement

PAWTUCKET, R.I. (WLNE) — A day after Hasbro announced that they would be moving to Boston, Pawtucket’s mayor said that it didn’t come as a major surprise, but that the loss of the company still hurt.

Mayor Don Grebien said that Hasbro’s attorney reached out to his chief of staff after speaking with employees, saying that the city also found out yesterday.

Through that process, though, Grebien said that there were signs and signals that Hasbro did not want to be in Rhode Island anymore, and said that the company “Did not want to recognize” that they could have had a new property in the city.

Grebien said that his top priority now was making sure Hasbro workers that would potentially be leaving the company would be taken care of.

Among factors Hasbro cited for looking for a different location, Grebien said, were believing that the creative community in Boston would be more of a benefit for attracting workers and having closer access to flights.

Now that Hasbro is gone, the mayor said that he’s talking with national developers who want to build on the Apex site, which was being held for the toy giant.

Grebien said that he wished Hasbro well, and appreciated their years in Pawtucket, but believes they’ve made a mistake.