100 Village Post Offices Now Open for Business

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Dec 19, 2012, 10:20 ET

Postal Service Celebrates Milestone in Rural Indiana

WASHINGTON , Dec. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In the rural community of Linden, IN, 50 miles outside of Indianapolis, the U.S. Postal Service celebrated the milestone grand opening today of the country's 100th Village Post Office (VPO). This ribbon-cutting event at the Linden Food Plaza marks the 21st VPO in Indiana.

"The Village Post Office is a terrific way for businesses in rural America to provide their customers with convenient access to postal products and services — becoming the ultimate convenience store," said Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe. "We're pleased that VPOs have become a way to extend postal access while supporting local businesses."

Located within communities in a variety of locations — convenience stores, gas stations, local businesses, libraries, or other government agencies — VPOs are operated by the management of those locations. The Postal Service announced the concept of the VPO in July 2011 as a way to increase access to postal products and services in the more rural communities across the nation.

VPOs offer a range of popular products and services — the ones most used by customers — including PO Boxes, Forever stamps, Pre-paid Priority Mail Flat Rate envelopes and a mail collection box.

Located inside established businesses and other places consumers already frequent, VPOs offer Postal Service customers time-saving convenience, and in most cases, longer hours than regular Post Offices.

The first VPO opened in Malone, WA, in August 2011. Additional information about Village Post Offices, including the list of 100 VPOs, can be found at www.usps.com/villagepostoffice.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation — 151 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $65 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world's mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 35th in the 2011 Fortune 500. In 2011, Oxford Strategic Consulting ranked the U.S. Postal Service number one in overall service performance of the posts in the top 20 wealthiest nations in the world. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency for six years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.

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SOURCE U.S. Postal Service