PUBLICITY KIT

Transformation Plan

Overview

In April of 2001, the General Accounting Office (GAO) placed the U.S. Postal Service on its high-risk list. In its report, the GAO stated that the Postal Service's basic business model, in which rising mail volume is intended to cover rising costs and lessen rate increases, is increasingly problematic as mail volume declines. The report goes on to say that the current framework of legal requirements and practical constraints hinders the Postal Service's ability to guarantee its own financial viability.

The GAO called on the Postal Service to develop a comprehensive Transformation Plan, in conjunction with Congress and other stakeholders, that would identify actions needed to address its financial, operational, and human capital challenges. The Postal Service submitted just such a plan on April 4, 2002.

Financial Situation

The Postal Service lost $1.68 billion in fiscal year 2001 and could lose that much again in 2002. We lack income to fund increased expenses for safety, maintenance, expansion, and modernization. Our ability to fund present and future debts is also at risk, and our statutory debt limit of $15 billion could soon be reached.

Near-Term Solutions

We will focus on financial, operational, and human capital challenges that can be done quickly, through changes in our own way of doing things. Such actions would require little or no regulatory changes. Examples would include reducing operating costs, moving repetitive administrative work to shared services, working with the Postal Rate Commission (PRC) to enhance pricing flexibility, and refining our retail network. We plan to cut $5 billion in costs (on an annualized basis) over the next 5 years.

Long-Term Solutions

In the Transformation Plan, we recommend changing our business model. The new model is called a Commercial Government Enterprise (CGE) and would require legislative changes from Congress. A CGE is owned by the government but structured and operated in a much more businesslike manner with attributes appropriate to the unique role the Postal Service plays in the nation. The CGE model offers the potential for greater flexibility in pricing, operations, and human resources while still maintain- ing our universal service obligation and public service commitment.

Commitment to Follow-Through

Congress will hold hearings on the Transformation Plan this spring. Several members of Congress have already expressed their desire to see the Postal Service operate under a new business model. The importance of the mail to our nation's economy was never more evident than during the events after September 11. Congress, the mailing industry, and our own leadership all agree that the time to act is now. We have never had a better opportunity to realize postal reform. This Transformation Plan will begin that process.

Facts

Postal Service Vital Statistics

• The Postal Service is the second largest civilian employer in the United States (Wal-Mart is first) with more than 750,000 employees.

• In 2001, the Postal Service delivered 207 billion pieces of letter mail, periodicals, advertising mail, and packages to 138 million addresses 6 days a week.

• The Postal Service delivers 46 percent of the world's mail volume.

• In 1 week, the Postal Service delivers the same volume as United Parcel Service delivers in 1 year. In 2 days the Postal Service delivers the equivalent of Federal Express' annual volume.

Plan Background

Current Postal Service System:

The 1970 Postal Reorganization Act (PRA) changed the Post Office Department to the current Postal Service. For the past 30 years, that legislation has served the nation well. It has allowed the Postal Service to maintain universal mail service, improve service quality, and keep rate increases level with inflation. All while delivering 207 billion pieces of letter mail, periodicals, advertising mail, and packages to 138 million addresses per year.

Changing Environment:

However, sweeping changes in technology and business practices have caused a vastly different commercial environment from 1970. Growth in mail volume has declined every year since 1997. In fact, total volume of mail decreased in 2001. And the Postal Service saw its largest mail volume decline in the first half of fiscal year 2002 since the Great Depression.

Next Steps for the Future:

In April 2001, the GAO placed the Postal Service's transformation efforts on its high-risk list to focus attention on challenges facing the organization. In June 2001, Congress asked the postmaster general to prepare a plan that would address the structural reform of the organization. The Postal Service published the Outline for Discussion: Concepts for Postal Transformation on September 30, 2001, which established the framework for a comprehensive discussion among Postal Service stakeholders.

Transformation Goals

Near-term regulatory and legislative reforms will help to stabilize the Postal Service's financial base until more permanent legislative solutions are developed.

Long-term solutions include changing business models and becoming a CGE. The CGE model will give the Postal Service the flexibility to survive in the modern marketplace and fulfill its mission of universal service.

Financial Situation

The Postal Service lacks income to meet increased expenses for safety, maintenance, expansion, and modernization as well as to fund its present and future debts. The statutory debt limit of $15 billion will soon be reached without extensive changes. To focus on these financial challenges, the Postal Service will feature both near- and long-term changes.

Near term:

Some near-term changes outlined in the plan include

• Reducing Post Office costs by consolidating and outsourcing administrative work and introducing new techniques.

• Enhancing pricing flexibility by working with the PRC to create predictable price changes.

• Lifting the moratorium on Post Office closings.

Some other changes include

• New postal laws for pricing flexibility and funding.

• A new regulatory model that replaces the 1970 model and redefines the nature of the Postal Service for the next 20 to 30 years.

To read the full Transformation Plan, go to www.usps.com.

The Economic Impact of the Postal Service on the Nation

* Dec 2001 Calendar Figures: Include all career and noncareer employees.

** As of 01/2002.

*** 2001 Fiscal Year Figures: Sept 00-Sept 01.

More Facts and Perspectives

• The volume of mail received per person has risen nearly 80 percent since the Postal Service was created in 1970. In 1971, the Postal Service delivered 87 billion pieces of mail and in 2001 delivered 207 billion pieces of mail.

• The hub of a $900 billion mailing industry, the Postal Service faces fierce and growing competition in almost every category of mail.

• Each day the Postal Service delivers nearly 700 million pieces of mail to 138 million business and residential addresses, including 19 million Post Office boxes.

• Each day the Postal Service serves 7 million customers at 38,000 postal retail outlets across the country and collects mail from more than 344,000 street mail- collection boxes.

• Each mail carrier delivers an average of 2,300 pieces of mail per day on routes that average over 500 addresses.

• The Postal Service carries 46 percent of the world's card and letter mail volume - more mail than any other country in the world.

• Every year the Postal Service adds nearly 1.7 million new s and businesses to its delivery network and processes more than 44 million change-of-address forms.

• The Postal Service is the second largest civilian employer in the nation (second only to Wal-Mart), employing more than 750,000 workers.

• With annual revenues exceeding $66 billion, the Postal Service would rank 11th in the Fortune 500 if it were a private company.

• The Postal Service helped develop and subsidize every new mode of transportation in this country for the last 2 centuries and now operates a transport and delivery fleet of 215,000 vehicles, covering 1.1 billion miles per year.

Postmaster Publicity Tips

Postmaster General Jack Potter delivered the Transformation Plan to Congress on April 4. The next day he unveiled the plan at the National Press Club. Here are some tips to publicize the Transformation Plan locally:

• Contact key media representatives and discuss the Postal Service's impact on the local market. Explain why transformation is necessary to preserve universal mail service. Work with local Public Affairs and Communications personnel. See contact list on page 26.

• Submit follow-up letters to the editor to newspapers that run unfavorable stories. Work with local Public Affairs and Communications personnel.

• Schedule meetings with local rotary clubs, civic groups, etc. to discuss the Transformation Plan.

• Identify speaking opportunities where the Postal Service's transformation message can be presented to local markets. Use speech on page 18.

As we move along with our Transformation Plan communications rollout, we have identified two additional platforms that each postmaster can use to keep the message alive. They are the first day of issue for our Heroes of 2001 semipostal stamp and the kick-off of the 2002 Tour de France.

The Heroes of 2001 semipostal stamp will go on sale sometime later this spring. The issuance of this stamp will be a highly visible event in Post Offices across the country. We will publish a publicity kit in the Postal Bulletin several weeks prior to the stamp's going on sale to help you plan and execute meaningful events. Although the main message will be our salute to heroes, the events will afford you an opportunity to talk about transformation with civic and legislative leaders who will be in attendance.

In June, each district will once again be asked to host a USPS Pro Cycling Team flag-raising ceremony to draw attention to Lance Armstrong's attempt to win his fourth straight Tour de France. We will send event-planning packages to each district in May. The package will include publicity ideas, a flag autographed by the entire team, 200 USPS Pro Cycling Team lapel pins, and an official team jersey. The jersey will be presented to an important customer or civic leader as you declare them an "honorary" member of the USPS Pro Cycling Team. The flag-raising event will serve as a platform for talking about our Transformation Plan.

SPEECH TO LOCAL ORGANIZATION

Remarks by [POSTMASTER NAME] [LOCATION]

[DATE], 2002

Thank you, [NAME], for that kind introduction.

And thank you for inviting me to speak with you today. It is always a pleasure to talk with friends and neighbors about something I have committed so much time to - the U.S. Postal Service.

Specifically, what I'd like to talk to you about is the transformation of our Postal Service, from the top to the bottom. We have a proud 225-year tradition of serving America, at America's front door - no matter where that front door may be. We want to keep delivering in that tradition.

But these are not traditional times. Let's face facts. The 32-year-old law that created today's Postal Service no longer gives us the ability to effectively adapt to today's rapidly evolving, hi-tech marketplace.

That is what the Transformation Plan we presented to Congress on April 4 is all about. It's a blueprint for modernizing every aspect of the way we do business.

It will help us secure the future of universal mail service at affordable rates and give us the tools to protect regular mail and ensure a sound national system for years to come.

If we don't accomplish transformation now, the universal mail service our nation depends on will be in jeopardy. If we fail to transform ourselves, if we are unable to make the changes needed to compete successfully, the only Post Offices our children's children will know will be the ones they'll see in museums.

(PAUSE)

The fact is, the Postal Service of 2002 - and hard-copy mail in general - is still relevant, even in this technological age. We have worked very hard to make sure that this remains the case. Thanks to the dedication of neighborhood Postal Service employees here and across the nation, we remain a vital link among individuals, families, and friends, and we remain a key driver of American commerce.

Of course, we face some obstacles - big ones. Right now, for instance, we're locked into an inflexible pricing system that doesn't allow us to do things like negotiate prices with major mailers or control our own wages. Too often, those decisions are left to a third party to decide. That is no way to run a business - and as a business is how we want to be seen.

But the way the rules are set up now, we don't have the flexibility to grow our business or find new sources of revenue. Every time we try to add, improve, or redesign products and services, some special interest group somewhere jumps out to stop us. Think about trying to run your own business under those circumstances! In the end, the public is not served, our local Post Offices can't adapt, and our customers suffer as a result.

Some of these things we can fix. But, we can't do it alone. We need the help of Congress and policymakers. They need to agree on the right business model for the Postal Service, or else a national asset will fail.

Who will be hurt? Every single person in this great nation. Americans stand to lose a basic government service: universal mail delivery. That's what our 300,000 letter carriers provide to almost 140 million addresses, 6 days a week. This service is the envy of every other postal organization in the world - because it is the best service in the world.

Just as important, the loss of universal mail delivery would hurt the economy. Nine million people in America work in the mailing industry - that's a $900 billion industry - many of them right here in [CITY] would be affected as well.

We can't let that happen. We must transform ourselves to meet the challenges of the 21st century marketplace.

That is why the postmaster general is recommending that the U.S. Postal Service become a Commercial Government Enterprise. This change would allow the Postal Service to run more like a business, while protecting our core mission of delivering the mail to every address in every community in America. But it is also a model that is very different from what we have today.

For example, instead of breaking even, our financial goal would be to generate "reasonable returns." Earnings would pay for new buildings, equipment, and capital projects instead of our having to resort to running up our debt. Retained earnings - a rainy day account, essentially - would carry us through tough economic times, so we wouldn't have to raise the price of stamps all the time.

We'd also be able to use our vast retail and delivery assets to generate new revenue. Think about it - we have more than 30,000 retail offices and a national door-to-door delivery network. If we could offer that sort of local access to private companies as a joint profit-making venture, it would be a win-win situation for everyone - local postal outlets would be able to generate additional revenue and customers, and our private sector partners would have a stronger presence in the community.

And, we could introduce flexible pricing. Prices for postal products would still be subject to regulatory review. But we would have the flexibility to adjust prices based on demand - like businesses do every day.

Next, as a labor intensive organization, with 75 percent of our operating expenses going to labor, it is important that we find ways to manage this part of our budget. Well, this business model would allow us to find more progressive ways to make collective bargaining work for all parties. Let's face it, our current system is expensive and time-consuming - neither side wins.

Finally and most importantly, this model would give us the flexibility to increase access and convenience to our customers - our whole reason for being. We would be able to add more locations with longer hours, invest in new facilities and services, and enter into alliances and ventures with related private sector companies, and we'll make sure these are the right alliances, done the right way.

But we would be run like a business, so if necessary, management would have the flexibility to close nonperforming retail outlets, while we look at better ways to make our services accessible to everyone in America.

Essentially, this "commercialized Postal Service" would give us the management tools that are available to private corporations to improve service to our customers, manage costs more efficiently, and leverage our assets to generate new revenue opportunities.

To that point, the postmaster general has said that he is willing to tackle the difficult issues head- on, by lifting self-imposed restraints and setting the stage for making this transformation a success.

We have already started this process. First, the postmaster general announced in early April that we are lifting the moratorium that management put in place 4 years ago on closing small Post Offices.

Does that mean there will be wholesale closings? No. It does mean we will restart the process to close those Post Offices that have been "suspended" or effectively closed - in some cases for 10 years or more. In most of those places we have already provided alternative services that have actually improved customer access to postal products.

Let me reassure you, we remain committed to increasing customer access for underserved cities and towns across the country. After all, improved access is what our customers want, and it is what they deserve.

(PAUSE)

There are a number of things we are doing right now to start the transformation process.

For example, we are taking a long, hard look at our processing network. With our automated environment and changes in our mail mix, we no longer need some of the 400 processing centers we have nationwide. We can save money through consolidation and we can strengthen the network - and, more importantly, we can improve service.

We also intend to get even more aggressive in taking advantage of our size and buying ability to lower our costs for office supplies, equipment, and fuel.

We must find a way to reduce the $300 million a year we spend on labor-management disagreements. By reducing workplace disputes and finding better ways to resolve them, we can focus better on serving our customers more efficiently.

Industry leaders around the country have already told us that they recognize our need to transform ourselves and have pledged to continue to work closely with us. We want to build on this good will.

And, as you may have heard, the postmaster general has already committed to maintain the new postage rates approved by the Board of Governors until at least calendar year 2004. Remember, we hadn't planned on these increases. The last year was a particularly difficult one for us - and all Americans. We were not immune to the economic changes that hit every American industry, and we experienced the additional double-hit of September 11th and the anthrax attacks on top of an already weak economy. The result: We needed additional revenue, and we needed it quickly, to keep our systems up and running.

Even before the attacks, we had already tightened our fiscal belt. We are completing 3 straight years of productivity gains, despite a softening of our revenue base.

Internally, we have been sharing best practices and deploying uniform standards throughout the country. And we will continue to invest in equipment to improve productivity.

Over the past 2 years, our productivity efforts have saved $2.5 billion, and we have ambitious plans to save an additional $5 billion between now and 2006. Has it ever been done? No! Does it have to be done? Yes.

We pledge to do our part. We pledge to continue our strong performance focus. We pledge to make those sensible changes that are possible within the framework of existing legislation, and we pledge to work with the Administration and Congress to bring about legislative reform to achieve this transformation.

And most of all, we pledge to continue working closely with you, with our employees at every level, and with the entire nation to ensure that our transformation best meets your needs, and the needs of the American people.

We are part of an industry that contributes $900 billion dollars to our economy each year. It's an industry that employs 9 million people. And, it's an industry that represents 9 percent of our gross domestic product.

It's an industry that works hard to build prosperity - community by community. It's an industry whose backbone is the thousands and thousands of local mailers in cities and towns all across America.

Ultimately, it's an industry that understands that its success is also based on the ability of the Postal Service to take each of 38,000 individual, community-based Post Offices - and knit them into a seamless network - and a real business, with the ability to reach everyone, everywhere, virtually every day - and to do it affordably.

We understand the value of universal service and - now more than ever - the special trust the American people place in the sanctity of the mail. This plan for transformation is a key step in moving past our limitations, to secure the future of universal mail service for our children and their children.

Working together, we can continue to connect our people, our neighborhoods - indeed the whole nation as no one else can - just as we have for more than 225 years. I look forward to working with each and every one of you to achieve this goal.

Thank you.

- end -

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: [INSERT YOUR NAME]
[INSERT DATE] [INSERT YOUR PHONE NUMBER]
Internet: www.usps.com

Postal Service Transformation Plan Will Protect Universal Service:

[POST OFFICE NAME] Residents to Benefit From New Plan

[CITY, STATE] - Faced with decreasing mail volume and a sluggish economy, the Postal Service announced details of a forward-looking Transformation Plan, proposing a new business model that would protect the fundamental right of every American to affordable, universal mail service.

"In the short term, it will give us the flexibility to keep costs down and to better serve customers in the [NAME] Post Office," said [POSTMASTER'S NAME]. In the long term, we are working to secure a new business model to continue fulfilling our mandate to bind the nation together."

The new model, called a Commercial Government Enterprise (CGE), would create a government- owned entity, but one that enjoys some of the operational and financial flexibility found in the private sector. As a CGE, the Postal Service would set rates more predictably, be able to use earnings to strengthen the nation's mail system, work under private sector labor laws, and, depending on future legislation, could even pay taxes or dividends to the government.

The CGE model would be a structural transformation requiring legislative acts of Congress. The proposed legislative changes would be the most extensive since the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, which enabled the Postal Service to function effectively until the end of the 20th Century.

The plan also outlined short-term, cost-cutting measures. The Postal Service has already cut 30,000 jobs nationwide and reduced costs by $2.5 billion over the past 2 years. Over the next 5 years, costs will be cut by $5 billion more nationwide through job attrition, outsourcing, plant consolidation, lifting the moratorium on Post Office closings, and other measures. In addition, the Postal Service will focus on developing new "intelligent" mail products to attract new business and better serve existing customers.

LOCAL OP-ED TO BE RELEASED UNDER POSTMASTER'S SIGNATURE

Transforming the Postal Service

The Postal Service recently delivered its Transformation Plan to Congress. The plan is a blueprint for the future of the Postal Service in the face of a changing mail industry, technological advances in communications, and the current recession. Since its founding more than 225 years ago, the Postal Service has been committed to providing every American with the fundamental right to have mail service at affordable rates. The Transformation Plan protects that right in the 21st century.

The plan offers solutions to the current financial problems the Postal Service now faces and in the long-term calls for a new business model to replace our 30-year-old operating structure. A new business model will require legislative changes, essentially rewriting the 1970 Postal Reorganization Act that formed the current Postal Service.

The Postal Service gets most of its revenue from First-Class MailŪ - the kind of mail used to pay bills, and send greeting cards and letters. Any decline in this type of mail has huge consequences, since two-thirds of our costs are covered by the revenue it brings in. For the first time since the Great Depression, mail volume is down. Add to that equation the [NUMBER] new addresses created every year in the [POST OFFICE NAME] Post Office and you can see the crisis we face. Trends like that threaten our ability to deliver the mail.

But we have solutions. For the long term, the Postal Service will ask Congress to adopt a new business model, called a Commercial Government Enterprise (CGE). Changing to a CGE would be a big step toward placing the Postal Service on a more business-like footing. We would be expected to provide traditional and nontraditional products and services and implement market-based pricing. Universal mail delivery would be maintained by giving the Postal Service the flexibility and modern management tools to survive in a new economy.

The Postal Service delivers 46% of the world's mail. No postal system does what the U.S. Postal Service does today. But what organization can keep the same business model for 30 years and hope to survive?

No business could. Any organization must be able to change in order to survive. No one 30 years ago could have predicted the rise of the Internet, electronic bill payment, and competition from global mail providers. To meet these challenges, the Postal Service needs a new regulatory framework. The Transformation Plan will provide that.

As postmaster for [POST OFFICE NAME], I'm excited to be a part of this Transformation Plan. Delivering the mail is a public trust, and the Postal Service is committed to guaranteeing mail delivery well into the future. This plan is the first step in that process and sparks a public policy dialogue with the American people.

# # #

LETTER TO LOCAL BUSINESS LEADERS

[INSERT DATE]

[INSERT NAME]

[INSERT TITLE]

[INSERT STREET ADDRESS]

[INSERT CITY, STATE, ZIP+4]

Dear [INSERT TITLE AND NAME]:

For more than 225 years, the U.S. Postal Service has served every person and every community in this nation. The simple fact is that affordable, accessible mail service is a fundamental right for every American.

Today, however, the Postal Service's ability to deliver on its historic mission of "binding the nation together," is being challenged as never before. We are operating within a dramatically changing communications marketplace, but we are limited by a 32-year-old legislative charter that could not anticipate the nature and pace of these changes.

To successfully continue providing universal service to everyone - no matter who, no matter where - the Postal Service must undergo transformation. To help us do that, we have just completed and provided Congress with a Transformation Plan. This historic document is a blueprint for the future of America's mail service. This is an important subject and one I would like to discuss with you and the members of your organization.

The Postal Service delivers money, messages, and merchandise to 138 million s and businesses 6 days a week. In providing its services, the Postal Service also serves as a cornerstone of a $900 billion mailing industry that employs 9 million people and represents 9 percent of the gross domestic product.

Locally, the [NUMBER] employees of the [POST OFFICE NAME] Post Office collected, transported, processed, and delivered [NUMBER] pieces of mail to [NUMBER] local addresses last year. The local economy benefited by the [TOTAL AMOUNT] in postal employee salaries and benefits.

I look forward to hearing from you so I can share more information about what the Postal Service is doing to preserve the right of affordable, universal mail service for every American. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

[SIGN]

[INSERT POSTMASTER'S NAME]
Postmaster
U.S. Postal Service
[INSERT CITY, STATE, ZIP+4]

Stand-Up Talk - The Transformation Plan

Part I

On April 4, 2002, Postmaster General Jack Potter presented Congress a Transformation Plan for the Postal Service. The plan is a blueprint for the future of the Postal Service.

How did this plan come about?

The General Accounting Office (GAO) - the investigative arm of Congress - placed the Postal Service on its list of high-risk government agencies in September 2001.

The GAO requested that the Postal Service, in conjunction with Congress and other stakeholders, present a Transformation Plan that would address the issues raised by the report. These included human capital challenges, financial challenges, and limitations on our ability to transform the organization by ourselves.

The plan was originally due by the end of last year, but the Postal Service was granted an extension due to the September 11 attacks and the anthrax crisis.

What did the GAO report say about the Postal Service?

The report said that the Postal Service could be in danger financially unless something was done.

What kind of financial shape is the Postal Service in?

Last fiscal year, the Postal Service lost $1.7 billion. And that's with two rate increases!

The combination of declining mail volume, terrorist attacks, and the recession have all contributed to loss of revenue this year.

Rate increases will help in the short term, but that is not a strategy for long-term success. Our future security depends on transforming. That's why this plan is so important.

What other challenges does the Postal Service face now?

First-Class MailŪ, our most profitable product, is a mature product. Volume is expected to decline significantly in the next 5 to 10 years, as electronic alternatives such as e-mail and Internet banking become more popular.

Our delivery infrastructure increases by 1.7 million addresses a year. That's like adding the city of Chicago to our delivery network every year. The costs of necessary network expansion are not being offset by a corresponding increase in revenue.

Competition is increasing. Many foreign Post Offices have been privatized and now compete on a global level right here in the United States. And our domestic competitors continue to expand and grow their businesses.

Part II

How will the Transformation Plan help the Postal Service?

You've heard the bad news, so let me tell you the good news. We have solutions to these challenges.

And we have the backing of the American people. You've all experienced it after the anthrax attacks. People coming up to you on your routes or in your neighborhood, telling you how much they appreciate the job you do.

You know the numbers: 207 billion pieces a year go through this system - 680 million pieces a day. No postal system in the world does what the U.S. Postal Service can do.

This Transformation Plan will let us do our job even better. And it will protect universal service.

We will also be able to set more predictable rates and even offer creative discount pricing to help drive mail volume growth. We can't do that now.

It's absolutely amazing the things postal employees do every day, even with all the restrictions that are put on us.

This plan will make us more efficient and allow us to do what we do best - deliver the mail to everyone, everywhere, at affordable prices.

Affordable, accessible mail service is a fundamental right of all Americans. We want to protect that right - as we have for the last 225 years.

Will there be employee layoffs?

I know what you're thinking. When they say "more efficient," and talk about closing Post Offices and consolidating plants, they mean cutting jobs. That's not what this plan is about.

It's true that if we continue down the same path that we're on today, especially with the declining growth of mail volume, there could be layoffs. But, one of the greatest concerns we have at the Postal Service is losing employees to retirement - and to other government agencies. And we're committed to recruiting and retaining the best people.

We're working to build a performance-based culture - one that rewards you for your accomplishments.

This plan is about giving people the tools to do their job better.

Part III

Why does the Postal Service need Congress' help to do any of these things?

There are some things we can do on our own, right now. But if we really want to change, the law must also change to give us the tools we need to succeed in a new business environment.

The basic legislation that governs the Postal Service was enacted in 1970. A lot has changed in 32 years.

We have the Internet, electronic banking, e-mail, and who knows what else coming down the road. Each of those threatens our mail volume and our revenue.

We need a business model that will let us succeed today and build a stronger future.

The good news is that many members of Congress understand our financial condition and the challenges we are facing. And they know how important the mail is to this nation.

What can employees do to help the Postal Service transform itself?

The best thing you can do to help is continue providing the best service possible to our customers.

Continue to sell Postal Service products and services.

Share information with your family, friends, neighbors, and communities about why we need to change.

Discuss transformation with your coworkers, and learn all you can about it.

If you want more information, read the Transformation Plan. It's on the intranet at http://blue.usps.gov and on the web at www.usps.com.

Area Public Affairs and Communications Managers

Ralph Stewart
Manager, Public Affairs and Communications
Eastern Area/U.S. Postal Service
PO Box 40593
Philadelphia, PA 19197-0593
215-931-5054

Helen Skillman and Deborah Yackley
Public Affairs and Communications
Capitol Metro/U.S. Postal Service
10320 Little Patuxent Pkwy, Ste 308
Columbia, MD 21044-5210
410-715-0070

Diane Todd
Manager, Public Affairs and Communications
NY Metro Area/U.S. Postal Service
421 Eighth Ave., Rm. 5114
New York, NY 10199-9681
212-330-3118

Debra Hawkins
Manager, Public Affairs and Communications
Northeast Area/U.S. Postal Service
6 Griffin Rd N
Windsor, CT 06006-9876
860-285-7265

Earl C. Artis, Jr.
Manager, Public Affairs and Communications
Southeast Area/U.S. Postal Service
225 North Humphrey Blvd
Memphis, TN 38166-0832
901-747-7544

Jim Mruk
Manager, Public Affairs and Communications
Great Lakes Area/U.S. Postal Service
244 Knollwood Dr, 4th Floor
Bloomingdale, IL 60117-2208
630-539-6565

Dan De Miglio
Manager, Public Affairs and Communications
Pacific Area/U.S. Postal Service
390 Main Street, Ste 200
San Francisco, CA 94105-8000
415-536-6490

David Mazer
Manager, Public Affairs and Communications
Pacific Area/U.S. Postal Service
7001 S Central Ave, Room 364A
Los Angeles, CA 90052-9641
323-586-1212

Cesta Ayers, Jr.
(A) Manager, Public Affairs and Communications
Southwest Area/U.S. Postal Service
7800 N Stemmons Freeway, Ste 450
Dallas, TX 75247-4220
214-819-8710

Scott Budny
Manager, Public Affairs and Communications
Western Area/U.S. Postal Service
1745 Stout St, Ste 400
Denver, CO 80299-7500
303-313-5130

Government Relations Managers and Representatives

- Public Affairs and Communications, 4-18-02