Groundbreaking ceremony makes Virginia history
The state of Virginia has been making history since its inception when it became the first US colony to be established. Now additional history is being made with the opening of a LEGO manufacturing company in Chesterfield County. Millions of American children from the Baby Boom and Generation Jones eras of the mid-1940s through the mid-1960s grew up playing with and creating imaginary kingdoms with LEGO building blocks.
We saw the plastic bricks in US stores and had no idea that LEGOS were not made in this country and originated in Billund Denmark. On April 13, history was made in Virginia when the toy company broke ground at a 340-acre site of the first American factory, located within Chester’s Meadowville Technology Park. WRIC is reporting that work has officially begun on the LEGO Group’s first manufacturing plant in the United States in Chesterfield County, which should be up and running in 2025.
8News in Richmond toured the welcome center, which is inside a giant yellow LEGO block where you an find the history of the Lego corporation. The building also includes a massive LEGO-constructed model of the future manufacturing plant, which was no doubt inspired by the Lego Movie. LEGO executives said the factory is expected to produce more than 1700 jobs and the $1 billion, 1.7 million-square-foot facility will be environment friendly as it will be carbon-neutral, and have a solar park to power operations."
Now, the real work of putting up the factory begins,” LEGO Regional President for the Americas Skip Kodak said. “This factory is timed to come online just as we need that additional capacity here for our business growth that we’re fortunate to be experiencing in the U.S. market.”
Comments / 4