The News & Observer by Danielle Battaglia 

The U.S. Postal Service has begun “initial steps” toward offering centralized mail delivery in Research Triangle Park, Reps. Deborah Ross and Valerie Foushee said in a news release Tuesday. The more than 375 companies and 60,000 employees working in the nation’s largest research park, which sits on 7,000 acres between Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, only have access to a single post office that doesn’t offer door-to-door delivery. In September, Ross and Foushee, along with Sens. Thom Tillis and Ted Budd, sent a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy asking him to do something before North Carolina loses businesses. Just before Thanksgiving, USPS officials said in a letter to the bipartisan group of lawmakers that RTP needed to meet a series of conditions before mail delivery is finalized.

“Completion of the mode of delivery conversion is contingent on multiple factors,” said Scott Slusher, government liaison for USPS, “including receipt of assigned street addresses from the local government; receipt of tenant election to convert to centralized delivery; incorporation of new street addresses within the Address Management System; receipt of a valid Change-of-Address order from tenants authorizing centralized mail delivery; installation of cluster box units; and execution of a mode of delivery agreement, among other things. The Postal Service will continue to coordinate with the RTP Foundation and RTP tenants through this process.” Lawmakers saw the letter as a step in the right direction. “As RTP continues to evolve, we must ensure that the necessary infrastructure is in place to support its continued growth and success,” Ross said in a written statement. “I’m grateful that USPS is prioritizing this issue and has begun the formal process to implement centralized mail delivery service on RTP’s campus. After hearing from over a hundred businesses and constituents, I’m confident that RTP will move quickly to meet USPS’s requirements.” In September, Scott Levitan, CEO and president of RTP, told McClatchy he worried that businesses would be forced to leave if they could not get mail delivery to a physical street address. At the time, the local post office implemented new rules that forced companies to use their P.O. box address on mail instead of a physical address. Previously, the local post office worked with the businesses that relied on a physical street address for certifications or validations by allowing them to use their street address on mail, instead of a P.O. box, but ensuring the mail would still get placed in the correct P.O. box. With the new rules, some companies were crippled from operating in the area.

“With cooperation from our Congressional delegation, RTP is heartened to learn that the USPS has begun the initial steps to provide mail delivery service in the Park,” Levitan said in a written statement. “With the introduction of the first mixed-use development and requirements of companies in RTP, mail service is critical to the viability of our 375 companies and future residents. We appreciate the collaboration among the delegation, USPS and our companies to achieve this commitment from the US Postal Service.” Levitan and 110 businesses from RTP had sent a letter to the Postal Service asking for help. “The continued communication between USPS officials and RTP foundation representatives is an important step towards establishing a physical carrier delivery service with Research Triangle Park,” Foushee said. “This is a significant breakthrough, and I will continue to work to ensure that businesses in RTP get the dependable and operational mail delivery service they deserve.”