Research Triangle Park is one of the state’s largest economic drivers. While facilities there are often at the forefront of technology, one thing they can’t do is get mail delivered.
Venture X is a co-working space at RTP. They also offer a virtual office to provide startups with a professional business address for their mail. The problem is that Venture X can’t actually get mail delivered.
“We have to go to the actual post office to go and pick up the mail. So between my coworker and I, it can cause issues here when nobody’s at the space or there’s a question that needs to be answered, but we’re not here,” said community manager for the office, Elizabeth Solorzano.
In fact, no businesses in all of RTP has USPS mail delivery. Every day, companies send staff to wait in line at RTP’s only post office. Fujifilm has one of the longest commutes, having to travel up to 16 miles roundtrip for their mail.
“We sometimes do have to go multiple times a day because a piece of package was not placed in our bin that we picked up for the day that was a very important package for some of these companies,” said Solorzano.
Venture X has to pay for a P.O. Box which can get confusing for clients.
“This actually drove one of our big third party virtual office memberships to actually terminate our account with us,” said Solorzano.
She fears it may happen more often in the future if their clients can’t rely on them for mail.
Now, there’s a bipartisan effort to get this fixed.
“It hurts our economy, and it really hurts the brand of RTP,” said Wake County congresswoman Deborah Ross.
Ross has sent a letter to the U.S. post master calling for change. More than 100 RTP businesses have also signed the letter outlining their concerns. In their letter, they say having to set up a P.O. Box and carrier service is costing businesses $2,000.
“Something like mail delivery could be the difference between a business wanting to go to RTP and a business going elsewhere,” Ross said.
Construction at the HUB RTP is ongoing. It will hold retail shops, office space and more than 1,000 apartments. Businesses hope developments like this will incentivize change.
“It’s not just an office park, but it has become a live work play area,” Ross said. “That really makes this an even more important issue.”
Businesses like Venture X hope the calls for change will be heard.
“In order for us to continue thriving,” said Solorzano. “That mail service needs to be included as well.”