HII investing $28M for Hampton manufacturing facility

Newport News-based Fortune 500 contractor Huntington Ingalls Industries is investing $28 million to create an aircraft carrier and submarine manufacturing plant in Hampton, the city’s mayor said Wednesday.

The 150,000-square-foot building off Commander Shepard Boulevard has historically been used by HII as an assembly building, but it is now being gradually converted into a light manufacturing advanced technology facility for HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division.

Hampton Mayor Jimmy Gray made the announcement Wednesday during his state of the city address held at the Hampton Convention Center.

The facility will house 3D printing technology and about 300 employees, most of whom will be existing NNS workers transferred to the new jobs. Gray said the site’s transformation is “in direct response to the demand for the company to accelerate production of aircraft carriers and submarines.”

In a video shown to attendees of Gray’s address, NNS Vice President of Human Resources Xavier Beale said the facility will strengthen the company’s relationship with Hampton and house “some of the most technologically advanced additive manufacturing machines known to mankind.”

At the site, NNS will print an array of alloys ranging from pounds to tons.

“Most of our work is done in Newport News, but what many may not know is that we have many warehouses located in the city of Hampton,” Beale said. “About 50 of our suppliers operate within the city, and I’m excited to say that more than 5,000 of our shipbuilders call Hampton Home.”

A subsidiary of HII, NNS is the state’s largest industrial employer, employing about 26,000 people.