Kevin Crutchfield: ‘New Alpha Headquarters a Testament to the Thousands Who Mine its Coal’
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Alpha Natural Resources CEO Kevin Crutchfield (Photo: David Crigger, Bristol Herald Courier)
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Lobby of the new Alpha Natural Resources headquarters in Bristol, Va.(Photo: David Crigger, Bristol Herald Courier)
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Alpha Natural Resources’ new $30 million corporate headquarters is a testament to the thousands who mine its coal, Chief Executive Officer Kevin Crutchfield said during Monday’s grand opening ceremony.
Rather than cut a traditional ribbon, 14 miners from Alpha properties from Appalachia to Wyoming unbuckled their miner belts which had all been linked together, eliciting a nearly 45-second standing ovation from the crowd of about 500 employees, dignitaries and invited guests.
“Every hour of every shift of every workday, our coal miners are fueling progress around the world, powering the everyday comforts of life we sometimes take for granted,” Crutchfield said during the ceremony. “This building and buildings like it around the world would not exist without coal. Coal that makes possible the steel for the structure and thermal coal that provides the abundant energy that powers the building day after day.”
The world’s fifth largest coal supplier, Alpha formally opened its state-of-the-art, 130,000 square foot structure on a 31-acre bluff overlooking Sugar Hollow Park, near Interstate 81 Exit 7.
The five-story building features state-of-the-art energy-efficient lighting systems and windows, eco-friendly rooftops with garden areas — designed to reduce heat gain and loss and reduce water runoff — and uses building materials with a high content of recycled materials. The building has already been registered for LEED [leadership in energy and environmental design] certification for commercial interiors.
Alpha selected the Bristol, Va., site after operating in office space in Abingdon, Va., for the past several years. Recent mergers with Foundation Coal of Maryland and Massey Energy of West Virginia, forced company officials to develop a much larger facility.
“It’s been a tremendous journey,” Crutchfield said in an interview with the Bristol Herald Courier. “It seems like from the day we put the company together we were either building an office, moving to an office, moving from an office, packing boxes and getting everybody back under one roof.”
About 150 currently work in the new facility with the about 175 more expected to move in during the next four weeks, Crutchfield said.
“The plan is to have everyone moved in by Christmas so - in January - we can hit the ground running,” Crutchfield said. In addition to centralizing the company’s worldwide operations, the highly visible, opulent red brick and glass structure will provide a home for continued long-term growth.
“It’s [building] a tangible sign of progress and what we do – producing steel to fortify structures such as this and coal to electrify the building with abundant, affordable electricity. It’s a tangible sign of what our miners do and what they do for the world,” Crutchfield said.
During the ceremony, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell praised Alpha as a “tremendous world-class company.”
“It is really a phenomenal success story; an American dream story. It is a gratification of our free enterprise system and all the different coal operators that have operated here for a long time,” McDonnell said. “From the miners to the managers, it’s all worked together for a common goal of providing more jobs, more opportunity and finding more effective ways — on top of the ground and underground — to produce coal. It really is a phenomenal story.”
Alpha selected the city site over Washington County, Va., and suitors in Tennessee and larger, more metropolitan areas.
“Having an international corporation of this caliber in Bristol is extraordinary for our locality,” City Manager Dewey Cashwell said. “Beyond that, we already know from working with Alpha what a great corporate entity they are. We know we can count on them to play a big role in the Bristol community.”
During the ceremony, Crutchfield praised local and state officials who delivered a multi-million incentive package and the city for donating the land adjacent to the city-owned park. He also lauded commercial developer Steve Johnson and BurWil Construction of Bristol, Tenn.
“This is the largest project we’ve ever done,” BurWil CEO Bill Prince said before the ceremony. “It represents a lot of things we’ve done for the first time — like the green roof — but it was great to work with a company that allows you to do that.”
Construction took more than a year and included up to 150 craftsmen at any given time.
Jill Harrison, Alpha’s vice president and general counsel – sales, was among the first to move in earlier this month.
“I’m excited,” Harrison said. “The group I’m in has been in a completely separate building for two years, so this is welcome back to the gang. We’re able to interact directly with everybody we work with in other departments instead of driving ten minutes or having conferences.
“I grew up in Bristol, so I’m very excited to be back in Bristol and with a company that is as involved in the community, stayed true to its roots in Southwest Virginia and providing a place for employees to work,” Harrison said.
Despite concerns about the long-term economic health of the U.S. coal industry, Crutchfield predicted a bright future for his company.
“I truly believe today’s ribbon cutting is simply the start of many more great things to come. We’re not done — not by a long shot. I truly believe our best days lie ahead,” Crutchfield said. “We’re scanning the world for our next set of opportunities. We think, in the next 20 years, the world is going to demand at least an additional 2 billion tons of coal annually — roughly equivalent to doubling the size of America’s coal business.”
— By David Mcgee, Bristol Herald Courier
