Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Upcoming Event

Best Places to Work in Virginia

Hamburger Menu Hamburger Menu

Tag: plant

$681M subsea cable plant coming to Chesapeake

A U.S. subsidiary of a South Korean cable manufacturer plans to build a $681 million subsea cable manufacturing plant in Chesapeake, the company announced Tuesday. The project is expected to create 338 jobs.

LS GreenLink USA’s Chesapeake subsea cable factory will be built at the Deep Water Terminal Site in Chesapeake, a 96-acre property located near the Port of Virginia and adjacent to the southern branch of the Elizabeth River. The plant will be approximately 750,000 square feet and will produce high-voltage, direct-current submarine cables used for offshore wind farms — the first such facility in the United States.

“LS GreenLink’s investment in Virginia will showcase the commonwealth as a leader in offshore wind industry manufacturing,” Youngkin said in a statement. “LS GreenLink has recognized that Virginia has the skilled talent, world-class logistics location and business environment that will allow it to serve its growing global customers for submarine power cables.”

A subsidiary of Anyang, South Korea-based LS Cable & System, LS GreenLink USA was awarded $99 million in advanced energy project tax credits by the U.S. Department of Energy in April, and Gov. Glenn Youngkin approved a $13.2 million grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to assist the City of Chesapeake with the project.

To secure the project, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Chesapeake, the Hampton Roads Alliance and the Virginia Maritime Association. In addition to the state’s $13.2 million grant and federal funding, LS GreenLink is eligible to receive state benefits from the Port of Virginia Economic and Infrastructure Development Zone grant program, and the Virginia Talent Accelerator Program will support job training for the company at no charge.

“This state-of-the-art facility represents our commitment to pushing the boundaries of technology and engineering,” said Bon-Kyu Koo, president and CEO of LS Cable & System. “This facility will not only enhance our capability to meet the growing global demands for submarine power cables, but will also position us at the forefront of the industry.”

Subsea telecommunications cables have become a burgeoning industry in Hampton Roads. Virginia Beach is one of a few East Coast landing spots for subsea high-speed internet transmission cables, with a data center and cable landing station where subsea telecommunications cables MAREA, BRUSA and DUNANT connect Virginia to points in Europe and South America.

The announcement comes as Dominion Energy has begun installing monopiles — wind turbine foundation posts — 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach to construct its $9.8 billion, 176-turbine Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) project, which is anticipated to be finished by the end of 2026. On Monday, Dominion announced its plans to buy a 40,000-acre lease off North Carolina’s Outer Banks for $160 million from Avangrid, a sustainable energy company.

Residents of Sandbridge, a beach community south of Virginia Beach, have opposed Avangrid’s plan to bring transmission cables ashore there, and the process has been delayed.

Lego delays Chesterfield production start to 2027

Lego Group will begin production at its $1 billion Chesterfield manufacturing facility in 2027, at least a year later than originally planned, the Danish toymaker announced Thursday. 

The company also named Preben Elnef as project lead and Gray | Hourigan, a joint venture between Lexington, Kentucky-based Gray and Richmond-based Hourigan, as general contractor. 

Billund, Denmark-based Lego first announced the project in July 2022 and broke ground on its plant in Chesterfield’s Meadowville Technology Park in April 2023. The company expects to hire 1,761 workers over the next 10 years. When complete, Lego’s 340-acre campus will have 13 buildings comprising 1.7 million square feet, including office spaces, molding, processing and packing buildings, and a high bay warehouse. 

When Lego broke ground, the company said it would start production in late 2025. Factors that contributed to the delay include finalizing the agreement with the general contractor and assessing design and ramp-up plans. 

Construction of the factory buildings will begin later this year.

Lego has already opened a temporary packaging facility in Chesterfield’s Walthall Interchange Industrial Park in October 2023, ahead of schedule, where it has hired 200 workers.

“We are pleased with the progress we’re making with our investment in Virginia and grateful for the continued support from the local community,” Lego Chief Operations Officer Carsten Rasmussen said in a statement.

Lego’s vice president of workforce solutions and operations, Preben Elnef, will lead the project beginning in April and oversee all aspects of the project, including the Chesterfield factory’s construction and opening. Elnef was previously vice president and general manager for Lego Manufacturing in Vietnam and has been with Lego for the past decade. 

“I am excited to join the team. This is an important program in support of our mission to inspire and develop kids across the Americas region for generations to come,” said Elben, who expects to relocate to the Richmond area in the spring. “It is also a step towards operating more sustainably, as we’re building a site designed to minimize energy use. I look forward to continuing our important partnerships in the local community to bring play to more children in Virginia.”

The Chesterfield factory is Lego’s first U.S. manufacturing facility and its second in North America, the first being in Monterrey, Mexico. 

Lego established its American subsidiary, Lego Systems, in 1973. Although its Americas headquarters have been in Enfield, Connecticut, since 1975, the company is moving its U.S. headquarters to Boston in 2026. The toymaker employs more than 3,000 people in the U.S. and has more than 100 stores, including four in Virginia — in Arlington County, McLean, Woodbridge and its most recent in Virginia Beach. Worldwide, the company has more than 27,000 employees.