SPOKANE, WA — New postage rates go into effect May 14, 2007. To provide businesses with very important rate information, the Postal Customer Council will hold informational seminars in Spokane and Post Falls.

The Postal Service is changing to a shape-based method of determining postage rates on letters, flats and parcels. Weight will no longer be the primary method and the changes could have a large impact on the way businesses, non-profits and Ebay users send mail and packages. Whether you work in a mail preparation business, a mailroom or out of your home, you'll want to attend!

Spokane's downtown Doubletree Hotel will be the site for the first of the two seminars. It will be held on Tuesday, April 17, from 7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. The same seminar will take place at Templin's Resort in Post Falls, Idaho, on Wednesday, April 18, from 7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.

Come and learn from the experts how to prepare your business for the big changes! Register today online at www.spokane-pcc.org. Cost is $15 per person and includes continental breakfast. For more information call Lisa Nystuen in Spokane at 509-252-2345.

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An independent federal agency, the Postal Service is the only delivery service that visits every address in the nation — 146 million homes and businesses — six days a week and also has 37,000 retail locations. It relies on the sale of postage, products and services to pay for operating expenses, not tax dollars. USPS has annual revenues of $73 billion and delivers more than 46 percent of the world's mail volume.