With the potential closure of the U.S. Postal Service’s Springfield mail processing center (one of 252 in the nation under review), I am reminded of a childhood story.
In 1987, I was 16 returning home from a Friday night date. Immediately upon stepping in the front door, the smell of an electrical fire assaulted my nose. The smell of “hot” was unmistakable and strong.
My mother, who waited up for me, couldn’t smell anything. The smoldering probably happened so gradually she didn’t notice.
My nose led me to the kitchen. I could identify the general area. The wall wasn’t hot or glowing. There was no smoke or flames. I still knew something was burning. It was time to wake my father. I tiptoed to his bedside, leaned into his ear and whispered so as not to alarm him, “Dad, we think the house is on fire.” He was alarmed!
He leapt out of bed, ran down the stairs and quickly identified the source.
The waffle iron was plugged in instead of the plastic Radio Shack intercom, which was melting atop the scorching waffle iron. The house didn’t burn down, perhaps because we acted, and acted with conviction.
Springfield, I don’t mean to alarm you, but I shall calmly whisper in your ear, “I think our house is on fire.” I’ve never witnessed the demise of the USPS. Many of us can’t see it.
However, I represent a business that relies heavily on the fast, reliable services of the USPS to deliver our core product, the print edition, to our paying subscribers. On behalf of our paying advertisers, I must say, I smell smoke!
The closure of the local processing center is the single greatest threat to the core operations and delivery of our product that I can foresee. I understand our viability cannot be of foremost concern to the USPS. However, their eventual demise should be.
If this closure occurs, all bulk delivery mail will have to be shipped directly to the Kansas City processing facility docks.
Our business, and perhaps yours too, will have to make some tough decisions.
We will either have to stomach the additional weekly shipping expense, remove $200,000 of expenditures from a local printer to a Kansas City printer, find alternative delivery options or cease to be a print publication altogether.
None of these solutions are particularly palatable. The least palatable of which for the USPS should be SBJ Publishing ceasing to mail more than 400,000 pieces annually.
If this closure occurs, USPS delivery standards will change from next-day to two-to-three day delivery.
According to USPS officials at a Jan. 4 public hearing, this isn’t a big deal to business customers.
We can all adjust our delivery dates to the point of origination (Kansas City) – unless, of course, you have a product that requires timely delivery.
Nobody is going to die if they don’t receive their business journal on time, but for Cackle Hatcheries in Lebanon, the case is different. The company’s chicks must be delivered in two days to countrywide destinations or they’ll literally die.
We all must adapt or die. No doubt, we will. It seems that’s the position the USPS finds itself in at this time. As a businessperson, I get it.
But why Springfield? According to local postal employees, volume has increased by 14 percent in the local processing center.
According to Rep. Billy Long, who spoke at the public hearing, we are by far the fastest growing region in the state. According to a Dec. 23 article in Springfield Business Journal, Springfield is ranked third among American cities by job growth. The Springfield metropolitan statistical area added 9,459 jobs between November 2010 and October 2011. Why Springfield?
This potential closure is akin to the railroad tracks, Interstate 44 or Highway 65 bypassing Springfield by 165 miles.
We would all smell smoke then, wouldn’t we?
The USPS is accepting public written comments until Jan. 19 at:
Manager Consumer & Industry Contact, Mid-America District 300 W. Pershing Road, Ste. 207 Kansas City, MO 64108-9631
Please write, and write with conviction. Write on behalf of SBJ. Write on behalf of your company.
Ultimately, write on behalf of southwest Missouri. We smell something burning.
—Mar’Ellen Felin, Springfield Business Journal[[In-content Ad]]
A Springfield couple launched 24-hour fitness center Iron Knights Strafford; Springfield-based Meridian Title Co. LLC made its debut in Mount Vernon; and a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held in conjunction with the grand opening of Render Flooring LLC.
