IWCO and Capital One Join Forces to Support Postal Reform
Chanhassen, MN (May 4, 2004) — The Instant Web Companies (IWCO), an integrated
direct mail services company, continues to gather support for legislative action
to correct shortcomings in PL108-18, the Postal Civil Service Retirement System
(CSRS) Funding Reform Act of 2003, which would lead to double-digit postage
increases if left unresolved.
On April 29, representatives from IWCO and Capital One Financial Corporation
met in Washington D.C. with Senator Mark Dayton and Joseph V. Kennedy, General
Counsel of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations on behalf of Senator
Norm Coleman, to continue their discussions regarding postal reform. IWCO invited
representatives from Capital One to attend the meeting to represent the direct
marketer’s perspective on the postal reform issue. Capital One is the
largest individual user of First Class Mail and relies on the USPS to communicate
with
its existing customers as well as attract new customers.
"Our partnership with Capital One is a great example of two industry
leaders coming together to further discussions on a very important topic. If
postal reform is
left unresolved, it could have a devastating impact on the entire mailing industry
and its employees,” said Jim Andersen, IWCO President and CEO. “While
there are 1,000 jobs at stake at IWCO, we are also speaking for more than 200,000
Minnesota residents employed in the direct mail manufacturing industry.”
IWCO has worked closely with Minnesota legislators to build awareness of
the mailing industry and the negative impact of some elements of the CSRS Act.
Postage increases usually result in reduced mail volumes affecting paper companies,
printers,
envelope manufacturers and mailers — companies that provide 9 million
jobs, $900 billion in commerce and 9 percent of the gross domestic product.
“Late last year, I sat down with IWCO to discuss postal reform and
the impact this would have on dozens of Minnesota companies that depend on
a healthy competitive
United States Postal Service to keep their thousands of employees working,” said
Senator Mark Dayton. “I will continue to support the efforts of IWCO and their position
on PL108-18. I expect members of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee
to introduce legislation in the next month to reform the postal service.”
The CSRS Act created a revised retirement funding formula that requires billions
of dollars to be held in escrow causing postage costs to rise by a larger amount
than necessary. Business mailers could expect an increase in postage rates
in 2006 of more than 10 percent (double the anticipated increase without the
escrow provision), and additional increases would occur for every year the
escrow account is maintained. The CSRS Act also transferred responsibility
for $27 billion in postal employee military pension payments from taxpayers
to postage ratepayers. IWCO and Capital One support legislation that would
return responsibility for these payments to the Treasury Department as is the
case for all other government agencies.
About IWCO
The Instant Web Companies, headquartered in Chanhassen, MN, has served the
needs of North American direct marketers for more than 35 years. IWCO provides
direct marketing like no one else by seamlessly integrating direct mail services
from a primary campus resulting in streamlined production for all components – printing,
plastics, envelope conversion and mailing. IWCO’s industry experience
and technology along with proprietary IWCO P.O.S.T. (Postal Optimization Strategy
and Technologies) and RideShare™ commingling and logistics management
programs deliver dramatic postage savings and faster time to market.
-end-
Editor’s Note: Jim Andersen, IWCO president and CEO, is available for
further comment on PL108-18 and the impact of escrow and military service issues
on the direct mail industry.
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