Lack of mail delivery hurts businesses and stifles economic growth in RTP and North Carolina

DURHAM, NC — Today, Congresswoman Valerie Foushee (NC-04) joined Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Ted Budd (R-NC) and Congresswoman Deborah Ross (NC-02) in strongly recommending that U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Postmaster General Louis DeJoy take serious steps to begin physical carrier delivery service to the Research Triangle Park (RTP) campus. The letter comes after repeated requests from Congresswoman Ross and former Congressman David Price to address the urgent need for mail delivery in RTP. The lawmakers are also joined in a letter signed by 110 businesses, outlining the costs, operational challenges, and compliance issues associated with the lack of mail delivery.

The letter from the North Carolina lawmakers is available here. The letter from RTP businesses is available here.

The lawmakers wrote: “The Research Triangle Park is the largest research park in the United States and is home to over 375 companies, 200 start-ups, and 60,000 employees across 7,000 acres… In less than a year, RTP will have added 40,000 square feet of retail space, 125,000 square feet of office space and 350 residential units. Moreover, by 2026, RTP will have 1,200 residential units on its campus with plans for significant additional retail, hospitality, and service industry capacity. Simply put, businesses located in the 27709 zip code need carrier delivery service.”

The RTP businesses wrote: “Current operations at the RTP post office require RTP organizations to either dedicate a staff person to retrieve mail daily or to retain a contracted courier to do so. These staff and couriers routinely encounter long lines when retrieving mail, requiring significant staff time to collect mail. Additionally, it is not uncommon for pieces of mail to be missing or delayed at pickup. Some days, only third-class mail will be provided. Other times, senders of mail will report that tracking data show mail as delivered, but those pieces will not be in that day’s mail collection…Throughout its history, RTP has been an economic driver for not only our region, but for all of North Carolina. We are proud to call RTP home. And yet, despite RTP’s critical role in maintaining and growing our state and region’s strong economy, we continue to encounter numerous issues with essential postal services.”

In August 2022, Congresswoman Ross and former Congressman Price initially requested that USPS implement mail delivery at the RTP post office. Following a lack of action by USPS to address the issue adequately, the members then joined the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform in demanding action. The lawmakers and businesses are sending the letters today following months of inaction.