Alpha Natural Resources opens new Va headquarters

BRISTOL, Va.

Coal producer Alpha Natural Resources Inc. is celebrating the official opening of its new corporate headquarters in Bristol.

Executives were joined Monday by Gov. Bob McDonnell and others for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the five-story, 130,000-square-foot building. The company says a group of 14 coal miners cut a "ribbon" of miners' belts to signify the opening of the building.

About 325 employees will work in the $21 million building. CEO Kevin Crutchfield said the company had grown too big for its existing headquarters in Abingdon.

Alpha Natural Resources has 5 billion tons of coal reserves and more than 180 mines and processing plants in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming. It employs about 14,000 people through its affiliates.