The Chesapeake City Council voted Tuesday night to submit a federal grant application on behalf of LS Greenlink, a submarine cable manufacturer.
The company, a subsidiary of South Korean LS Cable & System, has already begun construction on a $700 million cable manufacturing facility in Chesapeake.
In December 2025, LS Greenlink announced plans to build an additional complex to make copper rods, rare-earth magnets and magnet wires in the city. The magnet wires are used in industrial and automotive industries, and rare-earth magnets are used in weapons and electric motors.
In a unanimous vote, the council approved a resolution that would allow the city manager to apply for a grant on behalf of LS Greenlink through the United States Department of Transportation’s Port Infrastructure Development Program.
LS Greenlink owns property along the Elizabeth River’s Southern Branch and would rely on a dedicated pier to move materials and equipment.
The grant, which is intended to improve the safety, efficiency and reliability of the movement of goods through ports, would offset the cost of building the pier.
According to the resolution, LS Greenlink intends to request $50 million in the grant application, the cost of building a berthing area for ships.
The company’s 750,000-square-foot factory is expected to be operational by 2028, and its 660-foot tower will become Virginia’s tallest building. The facility’s high-voltage undersea power cables will be used to connect offshore wind farms to the mainland.
Combined, the projects will cost LS Greenlink over $1.3 billion and are expected to create hundreds of jobs.
The project has already received a $7.3 grant from the state’s Development Opportunity Fund and a $1.5 performance-based grant from the Virginia Investment Performance Grant.
City leaders previously lauded LS Greenlink for bringing high-paying jobs to Chesapeake, as well as supporting the city’s clean energy leadership and strengthening U.S. supply chains.
