For the Record – Southwest Virginia, August 2013

​To resolve a legal challenge to its background-checking process,Advance Auto Partshas tentatively agreed to pay $100 a piece to more than 2,500 people who were turned down after applying for a job. The settlement’s price tag is an estimated $360,000, money Advance has tentatively agreed it would furnish without admitting responsibility or conceding any of the allegations against the company are true. A hearing has been scheduled for Oct. 23 in U.S. District Court in Roanoke to finalize the settlement(The Roanoke Times)

Alpha Natural Resourcesin Abingdon has opened a mine safety and operations education and training facility in Julian, W.Va. The Bristol-based coal company invested $23 million in the Running Right Leadership Academy and development of its curriculum, which includes technical, safety and leadership skills. All Alpha employees will go through the 136,000-square-foot training facility.(VirginiaBusiness.com)

Grand Home Furnishingsplans to acquire four John Eye/Big Sandy Furniture stores in West Virginia. The Roanoke-based furniture retailer expects the sale of the stores to close in August. Grand CFO Randy Lundy declined to disclose the purchase price. Grand hopes to hire John Eye/Big Sandy employees, adding 65 to 70 workers to Grand’s payroll. When the sale closes, Grand will operate 19 stores in Virginia, Tennessee and West Virginia. The company employs 550 people at its stores, warehouses and corporate office on Electric Road in Roanoke County.(The Roanoke Times)

Roanoke’sHomeTown Bankplans to reorganize the financial structure of the company with two profit-driven objectives in mind: to avoid a fall 2014 spike in dividend obligations assumed during the recession and to amass money for growth. HomeTown Bankshares Corp. said it has raised $14 million in new outside investment.(The Roanoke Times)

Omni Hotels & Resortshas purchased five resort properties from entities affiliated withKSL Capital Partners LLC, includingThe Homesteadin Hot Springs. The Homestead’s new name is The Omni Homestead Resort.(VirginiaBusiness.com)

Piggly Wiggly, the first supermarket to open in Roanoke in 1919, is back in the valley, replacing the Super Save IGA on Riverland Road. Chad Burdette, who ran the IGA with his wife, believes changing over to a Piggly Wiggly will help increase sales by drawing a wider range of shoppers. Piggly Wiggly is the first new grocery store to enter the market — largely dominated by Kroger and Food Lion — since Ukrop’s opened in 2007. Ukrop’s closed in 2009, citing poor sales.(The Roanoke Times)

BH Media Group, based out of Omaha, Neb., purchased The Roanoke Times for an undisclosed amount from Landmark Media Enterprises in Norfolk, which also owns The Virginian-Pilot newspaper. The deal gives BH Media a growing presence in Virginia. It purchased the Richmond Times-Dispatch, along with seven other daily newspapers in Virginia, last year. One of those publications, the News & Messenger in Manassas, has since been closed.(VirginiaBusiness.com)