The quest to save the Greenbrier and the community that depends on it.
More than 20,000 people standing in line to collect federal surplus cheese and butter. Abandoned homes and boarded up stores, looking more like a war zone than an American town. These are a few noteworthy images from Roger & Me, Michael Moore's prophetic documentary film from 1989 chronicling his quest to interview General Motors then-CEO Roger Smith as Flint, MI, becomes a ghost town when GM shuts down its plant and lets more than 30,000 of its employees go.
Flash forward 20 years. Moore's movie, Capitalism: A Love Story, is in theaters focusing on the amoral pragmatism of modern management, where profits are more important than the workers who make it all possible.
For a moment it looked like the 721-room Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, WV, which Greenbrier County relies on as an economic engine, was going to fall into financial ruin like so many other prominent employers.
But then 58-year-old entrepreneur Jim Justice II, a West Virginia native, whose 47 business holdings include coal mines, commercial agriculture, and farm equipment, stepped in.
Justice watched his neighbors lose their livelihoods. He saw the pain in their faces as it became a challenge to put food on the table. "Daggone, I just had to do something," he says in his Allegheny drawl. And he did, by adding another industry to his holdings—the resort business.
Here's how a commitment to principled leadership, business practices, and looking out for one's neighbors, kept The Greenbrier, and an entire county, from becoming another GM and Flint, MI.
A Tarnished Treasure
Maybe it's the interior colors: the Dorothy Draper lime greens and cotton candy pinks. Or perhaps it's the stateliness of the massive white columns that greet you. Or it could be the 6,500 sprawling and perfectly manicured acres, the blooming flowers all around, their scent as intoxicating as the freshness of the mountain air. This storied resort is a special place where Southern hospitality and elegance is at its best. A spa, four championship golf courses, sporting clays, an off-road driving school, falconry, and fly fishing are just a few of the activities offered.
Standing on the wooden floorboards of The Presidents' Cottage, which is now an impressive museum, looking out at The Greenbrier's expansive grounds, it's spine-tingling to think 26 presidents have stayed here. This is where Joseph and Rose Kennedy honeymooned and Prince Rainier and Princess Grace vacationed. But that was the past.
In recent years, The Greenbrier had lost its luster. Mobil, the hotel rating system, dropped it from a five-star property to four stars. Labor disputes ensued and 600 employees were furloughed. Groups, as well as leisure guests, were hesitant to visit in fear of a walkout. In turn, the resort started to bleed money—$90 million over five years, including $35 million in 2008. Its owner, CSX Corp., filed for bankruptcy. The future was grim. The resort is the largest employer in the county, and its demise would be devastating.
Marriott International stepped in to buy the iconic 231-year-old resort. But the local community was concerned that Marriott would not be a good fit for the property. Rumors of plans to turn it into a "cookie-cutter" property swirled.
"That would have been a travesty," says Justice. "The Greenbrier is a true national treasure. Not to slight Marriott, but this is a brand unto itself. For it to become part of a chain would have been like sandblasting Mount Rushmore."
Restoration Project
Justice bought the resort for $20.1 million. When he told his lawyers his plan, they said they never heard of someone buying a company out of bankruptcy. That didn't stop him. He was able to buy all of the shares in the holding company of Greenbrier Hotel Corp. from CSX, then take it out of bankruptcy. Justice met for the first time with CSX on April 29; by May 7, he owned The Greenbrier.
How did he celebrate? With a quick lunch at a local Wendy's.
He didn't have time to waste; he had work to do. His first order of business was to bring back the 600 employees who had been furloughed.
Union contracts that had been signed with the assumption that Marriott would be the new owner were reopened. Instead of the anticipated cut in benefits, he created a more generous health-care plan for his 1,450 employees. Another benefit, allowing employees to eat one meal a day at the resort, further endeared him to the workforce.
Then he went to work revitalizing The Greenbrier as a destination. First item on the agenda: Get the resort on the PGA Tour.
Justice knows golf. Growing up, he was talented enough that he was recruited to play at the University of Tennessee, but he wanted to be close to his future wife, Cathy Comer, whom he has been married to for 33 years, and transferred to Marshall University where he captained the golf team and received a BS as well as an MBA. During high school, he won the state Junior Amateur twice. He has also been part of the State Amateur that was played at The Greenbrier. Ironically, his family didn't have the means to stay overnight.
A little more than two months after he took ownership of the property—it was on the PGA Tour. "I think Jim dreams something at night and the next day, it becomes reality," says West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin. "The Greenbrier Classic" will be held at the resort for six years starting in 2010, with a purse of $6 million.
The Greenbrier's rebirth also includes gaming. Under the front entrance of the hotel, construction of an 82,000-square-foot casino is in full swing, set to open in April 2010. Justice promises the casino will be "a truly spectacular facility, very elegant, and unlike anything anyone has seen before." It will feature 400 slot machines and 40 gaming tables.
Approaching the casino there will be what Justice calls a decompression area, with shopping, a restaurant, a coffee bar, and a lounge. Meanwhile, a small temporary casino opened in October to introduce gaming to present guests.
Justice intends to spend $175 million on new amenities, including the casino, a 1,500-seat theater, a teen center, and new dining options. Another West Virginia native, NBA legend Jerry West, whose silhouette is incorporated into the NBA logo, is honored in Prime 44 West, a new on-property steakhouse.
Rallying the Troops
On the day he took ownership of The Greenbrier, Justice instructed Lynn Swann, the property's director of public relations, to have Colonial Hall, one of the resort's biggest meeting spaces, set up for a mandatory staff meeting. About 1,200 employees gathered, most fearing the worst.
"When Jim Justice, a third-generation West Virginian, was introduced as our new owner it was just unbelievable," says Swann of that day, as tears stream down her face. "A colleague looked at me and asked if this was for real."
The reaction of the employees caught Justice completely off guard. "There was such an explosion of happiness, of joy, of relief. Let me tell you this: That was a fabulous day to be Jim Justice," he says with a smile.
Effusive praise for Justice comes from nearly all employees. Greg Scott, a Greenbrier doorman for 14 years, says, "It is like the Lord has opened the windows of heaven for us. People were losing their homes, their insurance. He came in with a vision, and we love him and we thank the good Lord for him," Scott adds.
Jerry, a shuttle bus driver at the resort for the past 29 years, was uncertain about his future. "But Mr. Justice has given us hope," he exudes. It is a mantra you hear from waiters, waitresses, house-keepers, even those in management.
"Camaraderie among the staff has returned. Everyone is laughing, saying hello to each other," explains Carol Hanna, The Greenbrier's director of conference services, who has worked at the resort in various capacities for 22 years.
An American Tale
Justice has the whole staff incentivized to regain the fifth Mobil star. To be sure they are as motivated as he is, he has promised every employee a one-time bonus of 10 percent of their gross pay once the fifth star is earned back.
And the people of Greenbrier County are also walking with a bit more spring in their step these days. "He has breathed life back into our community," reveals Mike Kidd, president of the Greenbrier County Convention and Visitors Bureau's board of directors. "As occupancy fell off, the whole area began to suffer. Employees were let go. Since they weren't earning paychecks, they stopped shopping. The shuttles from the resort stopped coming. How The Greenbrier does impacts the entire area. Thunder struck the day he bought the resort."
After spending time with Justice, you realize he is enjoying transforming what he calls "America's Resort" into "America's Story." This is his first foray into the hospitality industry, but he is not intimidated.
"How hard can it be to lose $30 to $40 million a year in the hotel business? This is what a lot of these hotel gurus are doing. I'm not going to do that. I'm going to make this the destination everyone wants to go to. This is our opportunity to introduce the world to our town, which is as special as a Norman Rockwell painting," he says.
"Generations of West Virginians have given their lives to The Greenbrier. To have a man like Jim Justice buy this, America's Resort, who has the resources and uses them in the most productive manner so West Virginia will benefit, is big. It took someone with the passion and compassion Jim has to make this happen," says Governor Manchin.
Add gentility, and you have Justice, who, at 6 feet 7 inches tall and 375 pounds, may seem imposing but is as gentle as a Southern breeze.
Justice's impossible-to-please father, the biggest influence on his life, often advised his son, "If you can't get it done in 24 hours a day, you'll have to work nights." He heeds those words. A typical day for Justice starts at 6 a.m. He finishes his last business call at about 1 a.m. That's seven days a week—the only exception is trying to fit in a church service on Sunday morning. Adding to his grueling schedule, Justice coaches the Greenbrier East High School's girls basketball team, from December to March. For him, it is a labor of love.
John Denver sang, "Country roads, take me home, to the place I belong, West Virginia." Jim Justice is home and he and his employees want the world to visit.
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