LEGO Puts Its First US Manufacturing Plant in Virginia
Toymaker breaks ground this fall for $1B, 1.7M SF plant on 340 acres in Chesterfield County.
The LEGO Group, maker of the ubiquitous plastic building block toys, is investing more than $1B to build its first US factory, a 1.7M SF plant that will be located on a 340-acre site in Chesterfield County, VA.
LEGO announced this week that it expects to start construction this fall and have the US manufacturing plant open by 2025, with a temporary facility opening in a nearby building in early 2024.
The plant will be located at Chesterfield County’s Meadowville Technology Park. LEGO is pledging to build a carbon-neutral, solar-powered facility that will minimize energy consumption and the use of non-renewable sources of electricity.
“We were impressed with all that Virginia has to offer, from access to a skilled workforce, support for high-quality manufacturers, and great transport links,” LEGO Group CEO Niels Christiansen said, in a statement. “We appreciate support for our ambition to build a carbon-neutral facility and construct a solar park.”
LEGO has been supplying its product in the North American market through its manufacturing plant in Monterrey, Mexico. The Denmark-based toymaker said it also is planning an expansion of the plant in Mexico to coincide with the construction of the new plant in Virginia.
LEGO indicated that the need to shorten supply chains and a reduced carbon footprint are factors driving the company’s expansion plans.
“Our factories are located close to our biggest markets, which shortens the distance our products have to travel. This allows us to rapidly respond to changing consumer demand and helps us manage our carbon footprint,” Carsten Rasmussen, LEGO Group’s chief operations officer, said in a release.
The Virginia Economic Development Partnership work with Chesterfield County, the Greater Richmond Partnership and the General Assembly’s Major Employment and Investment (MEI) Project Approval Commission to seal the deal for the LEGO plant project.
LEGO project in Virginia will be eligible to receive an MEI custom performance grant of $56M based on an investment of more than $1B and the creation of at least 1,760 jobs.
The proposed site development makes LEGO eligible for an additional $19M in incentives, subject to the approval of the Virginia General Assembly, according to an announcement made by Gov. Glenn Youngkin
Workforce development for the manufacturing plant will be supported by Virginia’s Talent Accelerator Program, which recruits workers and provides customized training.
LEGO, which has 100 LEGO-branded stores in the US, has factories in Denmark, the Czech Republic, Hungary and China. In December, the toymaker began construction on a manufacturing plant in Vietnam.