Bloomington, IN — In a continuing effort to improve productivity and increase efficiency, the Postal Service plans to move outgoing mail processing operations from the Bloomington Mail Processing Annex to the Indianapolis Processing and Distribution Center. The transition will be completed by the end of March, 2010. Retail services in Bloomington will remain unchanged.

Postal officials said local service will not be affected by the move. Some affected career employees may be reassigned to the Indianapolis Processing and Distribution Center or to other vacant positions.

Greater Indiana District Manager Lynn Smith said, “As is the case with the Postal Service as a whole, the Bloomington Mail Processing Annex has been experiencing a decline in mail volume, and the Indianapolis Processing and Distribution Center has underutilized capacity.”

“This consolidation will contribute toward the Postal Service’s goal of increasing efficiency and improving productivity,” said Smith. “The move makes sense. Optimizing our processing network like this will help the Postal Service keep the cost of postage affordable for all Americans.”

“I am confident the transition will be smooth and transparent to our customers because of our excellent employees in this postal district,” Smith added.

Business mailers who present mail at the Business Mail Entry Unit at the Bloomington Main Post Office will continue to do so. There will be no change in FAST or drop shipment schedules for those mailers who may enter mail at the Bloomington Mail Processing Annex.

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An independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 149 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes, six days a week. It has 34,000 retail locations and relies on the sale of postage, products and services, not tax dollars, to pay for operating expenses. Named the Most Trusted Government Agency five consecutive years by the Ponemon Institute, the Postal Service has annual revenue of $75 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail.