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Toymaker Lego breaks ground on new North American molding plant

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The new manufacturing plant in Virginia will be the size of 260 football fields and carbon neutral.

The April 13 groundbreaking ceremony, with Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin second from left.

Danish toymaker Lego Group has broken ground on a new US$1 billion factory near Richmond, Va., which will be its second plant in the Americas.

In an April 13 news release, Lego officials said the plant will be 340 acres – about the size of 260 football fields – and will have rooftop and ground solar panels and an on-site 35-40 MW solar plant, generating the equivalent of the energy needed to power approximately 10,000 homes.

Construction is expected to be completed by 2025.

The groundbreaking ceremony on April 13 was attended by Lego Group chief operations officer, Carsten Rasmussen; Lego Group regional president, Americas, Skip Kodak; along with top Virginia state officials including governor Glenn Youngkin and key partners.

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The company is currently recruiting approximately 500 people for a temporary packing facility that will open in the first half of 2024. Once the main factory is fully operational, it will employ 1,760 workers responsible for operating state-of-the-art molding, processing, and packing machinery, said Lego.

The company is participating in the Virginia Talent Accelerator Program to raise awareness in the local talent market of current and future roles.

Lego said it’s also investing in building capacity across its network. A new site will open in Vietnam by 2024, and Lego is expanding existing factories in Monterrey, Mexico, which currently is the primary supplier to the U.S. market; Hungary; and China. When the U.S. facility is operational, Lego will have a total of seven factories globally.

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