The Lego Group will build a factory in Virginia’s Chesterfield County, Governor Glenn Youngkin announced Wednesday. Lego will invest more than $1 billion in the new plant, which the governor says will create 1,760 jobs. In return, the company will be eligible for $56 million in performance grants as part of the commonwealth’s Major Employment and Investment program, plus $19 million in development assistance.
Lego will build a solar park as part of efforts to make sure the plant is carbon-neutral, its CEO, Niels B. Christiansen, said in a statement. Virginia’s central location on the East Coast was a big draw for the company, which like many is looking for ways to avoid supply-chain snags. The US is one of Lego’s biggest markets.
Construction on the factory is slated to begin this fall, and the company hopes it will begin to produce Legos by 2025. It plans to open a temporary facility that employs up to 500 people in a nearby building in the interim.
Andrew Beaujon joined Washingtonian in late 2014. He was previously with the Poynter Institute, TBD.com, and Washington City Paper. He lives in Del Ray.
