An Old Irish Blessing
May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face, and the rain fall soft upon your fields.And until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.
May the luck of the Irish be with you always!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day from all of us at BEB-Business Extension Bureau!
President & CEO, Ron Royall
Houston, TX- We are already over half-way through the first quarter of 2015 and the year seems to be moving at lightning speed.
As our executive team planned for the coming year, we determined that our business must become even more nimble and adapt to the changing economic climate, quickly. In fact, I believe that the only consistency in our economy today, is change.
Texas has a new governor for the first time in 14 years, and the price of oil is dropping at accelerated rates. Houston led the country with 125,300 new jobs created in December, while the Federal Reserve announced in January that the state will lose approximately 125,000 jobs due to lower oil prices by mid-2015.
Social media marketing was a primary marketing strategy for several clients last year, and netted amazing results.
As the economy is ever changing, we see that our client’s needs are consistently changing too. As a result, our service offerings and skill sets are evolving to ensure we continue to serve our customers well.
Last year we expanded deeper into social media marketing, websites, wide format printing, and created several marketing strategies for a wide variety of companies.
Our primary focus for this year is to continue to develop new ways to help our clients market smarter. We’ll execute with greater agility and speed, and keep you informed of the latest industry happenings.
And so, in this edition of The Bureau, we review details of the recent USPS postal increase request, offer information on upcoming Marketing for Small Business classes, and share results of some of our marketing campaigns from 2014.
As always, we sincerely thank you for your business and partnership and look forward to serving your needs in the coming year.
Sincerely,
Washington, DC – Today the Postal Regulatory Commission returned proposed rate adjustments for Standard Mail, Periodicals, and Package Services classes to the Postal Service to allow for modifications that comply with applicable legal requirements. The rate increases are proposed to be implemented April 26, 2015.
The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 provides for ratemaking flexibility and allows the Postal Service to adjust rates for Market Dominant products as long as the increase for each class of mail meets certain statutory and regulatory requirements, the most prominent of which is that such increases are kept under the rate of inflation, as determined by the Consumer Price Index.
A Commission review of the Postal Service’s proposal to adjust rates for Standard Mail, Periodicals, and Package Services found that:
• In Standard Mail, certain unequal commercial and nonprofit discounts, certain workshare discounts, and the Postal Service’s methodology for calculating certain billing determinants do not comply with applicable legal requirements.
• The Commission was unable to make statutorily required findings to determine price cap compliance due to incorrect adjusted billing determinants relating to the Postal Service’s new FSS prices for Periodicals bundles, sacks, and pallets.
• The Commission was unable to make statutorily required findings to determine price cap compliance for Package Services products due to incorrect adjusted billing determinants and incorrect price cap calculations.
The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) has issued orders approving some of the price changes proposed earlier by the Postal Service. After its review of the USPS filing, discussion of the input from commenters, and its own analysis, the PRC found that “the planned” prices for First-Class Mail do not violate the price cap.
The PRC has also approved the price increase for competitive products (proposed on January 26), except for some rates associated with products whose transfer from “market dominant” to “competitive” remain under review.
Rate increases will take effect on April 26, 2015. You can view the new rates by clicking below:
Have you scanned your March QR Code from BEB Business Extension Bureau’s NEW 2015 calendar?
We have a special message for you!
You can also click here to see it!
If you currently hold a mailing permit number that is issued from the Downtown Houston Post Office, you will need to make some changes.
As closure of the Downtown Post Office completes, all permit numbers issued from there must be re-issued from the North Houston office.
To make the transition, you are required to re-apply (at no additional charge) for a North Houston permit number. However, North Houston may not be able to assign the same number you were given from the Downtown Post Office. If the number issued from Downtown is not currently taken by another mailer in North Houston, you will be assigned the same number. Otherwise, you will be issued a new number.
This process must be completed no later than June 15, 2015
Inventory of items already printed with the Houston permit information will be accepted throughout the balance of this year. If you currently use a permit with the verbiage “Houston”; when creating new inventory, you will need to use the verbiage, “N. Houston” going forward. A sample for your review is below.
You can see detailed standards for mailing permit verbiage by clicking here or you can contact the North Houston Post Office at 713-226-3032.
If you need additional information or assistance, don’t hesitate to contact us at 713-528-5568.
Platinum is the highest honor received within the AVA Digital Award annual competition. It recognizes outstanding achievement by creative professionals involved in the concept, direction, design and production of media that is part of the evolution of digital communication. Our winning entry was for the use of QR Codes in our annual company interactive calendars.
The competition this year received over 2,500 entries from across the globe. The AVA Digital Awards is sponsored and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals (AMCP). This international organization consists of several thousand production, marketing, advertising and free-lance professionals. We thank all of our valued clients and partners for continued opportunities to serve them!
You can see our winning entry by clicking here.
Have you scanned your QR Code from BEB Business Extension Bureau’s NEW 2015 calendar?
We have a special message for you!
You can also click here to see it!
Today the U.S. Postal Service filed a request with the PRC (Postal Regulatory Commission) for a rate adjustment (1.966%) based on the CPI (Consumer Price Index). The request for increase applies to only “market-dominant products”, which includes Standard Mail, the primary postage used by marketers.
The USPS has requested that the increase take effect on April 26 and estimates that it will generate an additional $900 million on an annualized basis. The USPS estimates that an additional $400 million will be contributed to the fiscal year 2015, if the PRC agrees to meet the proposed implementation date.
The case also includes a separate pricing structure for Standard Mail run through the FSS (Flats Sequencing System). The request removes FSS pricing for carrier route, high density, or high density plus categories. Instead, a five-digit carrier route pallet rate will be created. An estimated 2.465% rate increase is predicted for Standard Flats.
Forever stamps will remain unchanged (49 cents), International letters will increase to $1.20 (a 5 cent increase), and postcard rates increase to 35 cents (a 1 cent rate hike).
We will keep you abreast of the outcome of this filing as it becomes available.
PostalReporter.com published a great blog with details about H.Res. 12, calling for the USPS to do what is needed to continue delivering mail 6-days a week. Check out the blog and more details on the Resolution by clicking here.