The LEGO Group announced Wednesday it would build a new toy brick factory in Chesterfield County, Virginia. The plant will cost $1 billion over the course of 10 years, the company said, and employ more than 1,760 people.
Construction on the site will begin in fall of this year, and Lego projects production of the company’s colorful bricks will start up in the second half of 2025. In the meantime, Lego says, a “temporary packaging site” will open nearby in 2024 and create about 500 jobs.
The Virginia factory will be the Danish company’s first in the United States, and its second in the Americas after LEGO’s existing factory in Monterrey, Mexico. The company currently employs 2,600 people in the U.S. at company stores.
According to a company release, the finished brick molding, processing and packing plant will be environmentally friendly. An onsite solar plant will provide all the power needed for the 1.7-million-square-foot factory, and the company plans to seek Gold LEED certification for the completed building.
Read “LEGO building Carbon-Neutral Manufacturing plant in Virginia” from EnergyTech, a publication owned by IndustryWeek parent company Endeavor Business Media.
Lego CEO Niels Christiansen, in a statement, praised the location for its accessibility to transporting goods across the country and noted that the U.S. is one of the company’s biggest markets.
Carsten Rasmussen, LEGO group COO, said in a statement that the new location will support long-term growth on the continent.
“Our factories are located close to our biggest markets which shortens the distance our products have to travel,” said Rasmussen said. “Our new factory in the U.S. and expanded capacity at our existing site in Mexico means we will be able to best support long-term growth in the Americas.”
Rasmussen added the company was “fortunate” to find a location it could begin construction quickly, and that Lego anticipates working with the Virginia Talent Accelerator program to help hire talented workers.
“Our bricks are made to last for generations, so we need skilled employees trained to work with precision molding technology,” Rasmussen said. Lego aims to mold their toy bricks within an accuracy of 0.005 millimeters, according to the company, which requires precise molding.
