First Class Times Four

Connecticut Postal Customer Councils, Members Earn Premier Awards, National Assignments at Postal Mailers Event

On the Post Office calendar, Wednesday was National Postal Customer Council Day.  But, it turned out to be Connecticut's day.

More than 14,000 members of 200 Postal Customer Councils gathered in 139 different locations to participate in local workshops, to recognize outstanding service and individual achievement and to hear a live broadcast led by Postmaster General John Potter. 

By the end of the broadcast, Connecticut was cited four times.  

Postal Customer Councils (PCC) in Greater Hartford and in Greater New Haven received bronze medals for overall excellence in programming

As is the practice with Postal Customer Councils, the Greater Hartford PCC has two co-chairs.  Representing the Postal Service is Hartford Postmaster Judith Martin.   Serving as the Industry Co-Chair is Bob Beltrandi from Federal Direct.  

In Greater New Haven, Vee Carrington of The Carrington Company co-chairs with local Postmaster Norman LaLonde.

The nationally-televised broadcast also featured a visit to the mail center of Sacred Heart University in Fairfield where manager Art Gerckens, Industry co-chair for the Fairfield County PCC, was profiled for his use of the resources of his local Council. 

Bridgeport's Postal Customer Relations Coordinator Kathleen Perez was also featured in the broadcast.  The Fairfield County PCC is co-chaired by Bridgeport Postmaster Michael Boccio.   

The National Postal Customer Council Day broadcast announced the appointment of Gerckens to the National PCC Advisory Committee based in Washington. 

Also named to the Committee was the Postal Service's Northeast Area Customer Relations Manager, Laurie Timmons.   Timmons works in the Postal Service's Area Office in Windsor. 

The National PCC Day program also unveiled a blog for postal customer communications on postal issues.   

The site — http://2blogpcc.com/ — includes links to local PCC locations, to the Postal Service's Rapid Information Bulletin Board (RIBBS) and to the National PCC site — http://www.usps.com/nationalpcc/ — which includes workshops for use in PCC or industry settings, a roster of national speakers and certification programs, a how-to on PCC operations, and best practices from around the nation. 

The Postal Service’s Connecticut District serves more than 3.5 million postal customers over more than 5,000 square miles through 218 post offices and an additional 80 stations and branches.  Three Postal Customer Councils are active in the state, reaching customers in Greater New Haven, Greater Hartford and in Fairfield County. 

About Postal Customer Councils
The Postal Customer Council was established in 1961 to improve communications between USPS customers and managers. The organization has grown increasingly more important since the 1970s, when business mailing issues became a primary focus.

Today there are more than 200 local PCCs with approximately 100,000 members across the nation.

Regular meetings, education programs, mailer clinics and seminars keep members informed of developments.