Coal People Magazine....

JIM JUSTICE RETURNS THE GREENBRIER TO GREATNESS

It takes more than one person to make an organization with 1,600+ employees great, but Jim Justice has certainly single-handedly given The Greenbrier a long-needed punch in the arm to return it to greatness. The literally and figuratively larger-than-life West Virginia coal baron’s purchase of the fabled resort last year was the first of many steps in what he and many others think can make The Greenbrier a Forbes Five-Star resort once again.

Marriott--Not!

Last May, The Greenbrier (having lost something like $90 million in the past five years and $38 million in 2008 alone) was in bankruptcy and awaiting purchase and possible massive changes by Marriott. The West Virginian in Justice felt there could be many injustices in this purchase and contacted CSX about an alternate solution.

Justice says it was an easy decision to get involved for three reasons. He recalls, “I didn’t want CSX to leave on our sour note, I love the people here, and The Greenbrier is a treasure that I didn’t want to see tarnished.

Within a week of contacting CSX, he negotiated a deal to buy the resort, plus related real estate and other holdings, for what may turn out to be the bargain-basement price of $20.1 million. On May 7th, an historic all-employees meeting introducing Justice as the first West Virginia owner of the resort was filled with joyful tears--and a standing ovation.

“I’m a big fan of Jim Justice,” says Bill Raney, president of the West Virginia Coal Association. “His glass is always half-full and he makes others feel so positive about what they’re doing. You can see that everywhere you go now at The Greenbrier.”

Justice hit the ground running with many positive actions, including the renegotiation of touchy union contracts, returning hundreds of laid-off workers to the resort, and announcing plans for an upscale casino, a new restaurant named for West Virginia native and NBA legend Jerry West, a prestigious PGA TOUR event (part of the FedExCup), and--his ultimate goal--a return of The Greenbrier to Five-Star status (the resort lost that ranking in 2000, when it was called a Mobil Five-Star rating). The casino, the restaurant, and the tourney are already done deals and those who know Justice and the people of West Virginia are confident there will soon be five stars in White Sulphur Springs again.

Coal-Deep West Virginia Roots

James “Jim” C. Justice, II was born in West Virginia in 1951 and attended Raleigh County schools, graduating from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1969. He attended Greenbrier Military Academy after high school, as well as the University of Tennessee, before receiving his BS and MBA degrees from Huntington’s Marshall University. He married his wife, Cathy (also a Marshall grad), in 1976 and they have two children--James “Jay” C., III, and Jill.

Justice joined the family business in 1976 and started Bluestone Farms in 1977 (currently operating as Justice Family Farms, LLC), which would grow to be the largest cash grain operation on the East Coast. The operation also includes grain storages, a John Deere dealership, timber interests, cotton warehouses, land companies, a Christmas tree farm, and two commercial turf farms. He also developed Stoney Brook Plantation in West Virginia’s Monroe County, a 15,000-acre hunting and fishing preserve currently being used as one of the amenities of the resort and The Greenbrier Sporting Club.

After the death of his father in 1993, Justice became president and CEO of Bluestone Industries, Inc. and Bluestone Coal Corporation. Throughout the late-1990s, Justice focused Bluestone on a massive growth program--acquiring tens of thousands of acres of quality coal reserves along with production skyrocketing. In 2003, Justice founded the James C. Justice Companies, Inc. to further expand the coal reserve base and acquire additional mining operations. The business moved into Kentucky in 2007 with the acquisition of Sequoia Energy, LLC, a surface and deep mining company based in Middlesboro, then into Tennessee in 2008 with the addition of Premium Coal Co. and S&H Mining--and most recently into Virginia when A&G Coal Corporation of Wise County was acquired.

During late-2008 and early-2009, Justice successfully negotiated the sale of Bluestone Industries, Inc. and affiliated companies--which comprised all of the family’s West Virginia active coal mines--to Mechel, OAO, a major global company in mining and metals. The Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia coal operations and the West Virginia, Virginia, North and South Carolina agricultural operations continue today under the parent James C. Justice Companies.

Justice has carried on his family’s tradition of being major supporters of youth programs in southern West Virginia. Since 1992, he has been President of Beckley Little League. His participation has helped the program expand to more than 1,000 kids playing on 80 teams. He has coached basketball teams of all ages for the past 25 years and is currently the head girls’ basketball coach at Greenbrier East High School in Lewisburg (coaching the daughters of many Greenbrier staff members).

As part of his involvement with the West Virginia Coal Association, Justice was asked to become Tournament Director of the Mountain State Coal Classic Basketball Tournament. The Classic was moved to Beckley in 1995 and has enjoyed tremendous success by providing $300,000+ in scholarships and $325,000+ in direct support to participating schools. Justice will always be remembered for bringing sports greats like “Hot Rod” Hundley, Terry Bradshaw, Dick Vitale, Jerry West, Joe Theisman, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Dr. “J” Julius Erving, Bo Jackson, Rich Rodriquez, Quincy Wilson, Bob Pruett, Chad Pennington, Lou Holtz, Larry Bird, Bill Walton, John Elway, Bill Stewart, and Pat White to Beckley as guest speakers for the Classic. The Tournament will become even bigger and better in 2010 and will be known as The Big Atlantic Classic Basketball Tournament.

In August of 1997, he was elected Chairman of the West Virginia Mining and Reclamation Association and has also served on the West Virginia Coal Association’s Board of Directors. He has the distinction of being the first member of the second generation of coal people to serve as Chairman of the Association. Jim Justice, Sr., who was raised in the Kopperston coal camp, was Chairman back in the mid-1970s.

With more than 45 companies and counting, Justice is a multimillionaire, but his roots are obviously deep in West Virginia soil. This gives him a vested interest in The Greenbrier that goes way beyond dollars and sheer business sense. The “new” Greenbrier is better than ever and both first-time and veteran visitors have Justice to thank--and lots of smiling long-time and new Greenbrier employees to welcome them.

The “New” Greenbrier

How could a 721-room 6,500-acre resort founded way back in 1778 be called new? Just ask Jim Justice or practically anyone else at The Greenbrier, who know history is again being made at their resort.

“A legendary institution like The Greenbrier has re-invented itself numerous times over the past two hundred years and those major changes at the resort tend to occur when ownership changes,” says the resort’s beloved historian, Bob Conte. “To find a moment as significant as the current one, you would need to look back to the ownership transfer from the U.S. Army after World War II—when The Greenbrier was used as a military hospital—back to the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. These are times when fundamental concepts about the nature of the resort are re-imagined. The interior designer Dorothy Draper was the key player back then--today it is clearly Jim Justice.”

The laundry list of changes Justice has already made or is planning is longer than the ones prepared by some guests who have been known to stay at Greenbrier for weeks. Already-accomplished changes and additions include: the introductory--but elegant--Tavern Casino, with tuxedo-clad staff; a classy steakhouse called Prime 44 West (Jerry West says his favorite memorabilia there is his gold medal and jersey from the 1960 Olympics); and a six-year tourney deal with the PGA TOUR on the Old White Course (the first Greenbrier Classic, expected to draw 100,000+ spectators, is July 26 to August 1, 2010).

Justice, who says he’s never taken a true vacation and needs four different phone lines in his house to handle business, isn’t stopping there. Due to open this spring, an 82,000-square-foot underground entertainment complex will feature a Monte Carlo-style casino, restaurants, and upscale retail shops. It will run about $50 million--ironically more than twice the purchase price of the entire resort!

That’s in addition to the long list of amenities already in place, including: varied accommodations (including historic cottages with fireplaces); dining for all tastes; lots of shopping; carriage rides; an off-road driving school; ten miles of fabulous fly-fishing, trap, skeet, and sporting clays through the Gun Club; indoor swimming and tennis; a world-class spa with soothing mineral waters; historic tours of the one-time Congressional emergency bunker; aforementioned golf; and so much more

The Greenbrier’s return to greatness has led to the return of veteran visitors and new ones as well (including many multi-generational bookings). Lynn Swann, long-time director of public relations, says, “Everywhere you turn, people are excited about The Greenbrier. Employees, guests, and the entire community are thrilled to see the renewed energy at the resort, knowing that our best days are ahead of us.”

Justice and many others hope all of these things will also lead to a return of the coveted Forbes Five-Star rating. “The treasure deserves it and we have to get it back,” Justice firmly states. “I expect it and the world expects it.” Those who know Jim Justice don’t doubt it--they expect it.

This is freelance journalist Lynn Seldon’s first article for Coal People Magazine. The Virginia native grew up in Winchester near the West Virginia line in the Shenandoah Valley and has pursued many feature stories about the state. He loves West Virginia and loves what Jim Justice is doing for the state--and the state of The Greenbrier.