Seven Stars owners seek bakery in Pawtucket’s downtown

PAWTUCKET – A state-of-the-art baking facility and corporate headquarters for Seven Stars Bakery is a big-time building block that could ripple throughout the downtown for decades to come, say city officials.

The owners of Seven Stars Bakery, Bill and Tracy Daugherty, are seeking to take over the former Major Electric building at 111 High St., across from Pawtucket City Hall. They are seeking a five-year tax stabilization agreement from the city to help finance the $1.48 million project.

The owners are heralding at least 52 new jobs, including 40 baking and food preparation professionals and 12 members of the corporate management team, and are also saying they plan to eventually open a Seven Stars café at this location.

Bill Daugherty, of Rivard Partners III LLC, told The Breeze this week that he and his wife purchased Seven Stars about 14 months ago with the intention of growing it right away. Former owners Jim and Lynn Williams were looking for just the right owners to take the company to new heights and didn’t want to sell to some big corporate food company, he said. He and his wife, longtime fans of the bakery, had some business experience and were looking for a company that fit their goals.

They said they’re looking forward to being “part of the resurgence of Pawtucket,” and are very familiar with all of the positive signs in the city. They pointed to a coming new commuter rail station and a planned new sports development, among other positive signs.

The company has had its baking operations inside Pawtucket’s Hope Artiste Village for some time, he said, but this represents the next chapter where the facility will be much more visible to the public and can accommodate responsible growth.

The former owners hadn’t opened a new café in a decade, said the Daughertys, and really saw the potential for growth. The new owners recently opened their first new café in Cranston, he said.

Expansion in Pawtucket is not a done deal yet, said Bill, though he and his wife are optimistic that they’ll overcome all remaining hurdles to get this project done, including a requested tax agreement from the city.

Seven Stars has always been known for its commitment to the communities it does business in, giving back whenever possible, said Daugherty, and has become a well-known meeting spot for many thousands of Rhode Islanders.

Tracy said there’s a lot to be said for a community to simply be able to point to a Seven Stars location in terms of economic development and overall reputation. Bill said it was humbling during their tour of various communities to hear many leaders speak of what a Seven Stars bakery would mean in terms of jumpstarting economic development in the surrounding area.

“It’s a special Rhode Island company,” he said.

Many people want to visit the bakery for any number of reasons, Tracy said, and there are many opportunities to make this location a tourist spot, whether it’s bringing in people who simply love the company’s products or those in the business who wants to see its unique flour milling process or other production aspects of the company.

Bill commended Pawtucket officials for remaining aggressive in their pursuit of a location that would fit the company’s needs, despite the company at one point narrowing its search to locations outside of Pawtucket. He said there was some healthy pushback from the city on the company’s initial request for tax relief, but the sides were able to come together on what both sides expect to be a “win-win” for everyone.

The Daughertys, of Barrington, said Seven Stars takes pride in being approachable and accepting.

Eventually, states a tax stabilization proposal now before the city, this commissary bakery and food preparation facility would include the Seven Stars retail sales component as part of a later phase of development.

“The Major Electric building has been vacant for approximately two years and is located in a key location in the downtown,” states a letter from Director of Commerce Jeanne Boyle to the City Council. The council’s finance subcommittee is set to review the tax stabilization agreement at its meeting Wednesday, Nov. 20.

Boyle is fully recommending that the council approve the tax stabilization agreement, citing the significant planned capital investment here, the number of jobs being generated by the project, and its prominent location in the downtown.

The proposed agreement calls for:

• Annual tax payments on the land only in years 1-3, or $10,275.

• Payments of taxes on land value and 50 percent of the current building value in years 4-5, or $28,863.

“In year six, the building would be fully taxed at a new value including the improvements to the building and its new occupancy,” said Boyle in her Nov. 14 recommendation.

The city’s tax database lists the property as covering 21,000 square feet of space. The property is currently valued at $1.38 million.

The proposed tax agreement basically lets the company take a few years to add a couple of new cafes, said the Daughertys.

Pawtucket has always been good to Seven Stars, said Bill Daugherty, and this company has continued to invest in people. Seven Stars is all about community and being the heartbeat of the cities and towns where it does business, said Tracy, and has a history of donating food and undertaking philanthropic efforts. Staff work with organizations such as Dorcas International on hiring, and are big on training a diverse group of employees for success, including running ESL programs. The production staff itself is a community to itself, she said.

Getting the new bakery up and running will be the first priority, said the owners, and they will move forward with plans for retail space later.

Seven Stars is firmly committed to the idea that the company’s impact is “larger than our square footage,” said Bill, and “we’d be disappointed if it wasn’t.”