Dear Mr. James,

I am writing today to urge USPS to remove Tucson, AZ from its list of mail processing and distribution station closures.

The role of Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities, Inc. (TREO) is to facilitate job and investment growth throughout the Southern Arizona region. A secondary role of TREO is to shape policy and mobilize resources to ensure the region has a competitive environment that allows primary employers to flourish and succeed.

Closing Tucson’s mail processing station will seriously hurt our fledgling economic recovery and competitiveness. As the 33rd largest city in the nation and with nearly 1 million population in the region, Tucson deserves a high caliber of service for its businesses and residents.

There are factors for consideration unique to Tucson. Southern Arizona is home to large military installations such as Davis Monthan Air Force Base and Fort Huachuca; delays in mail service would be pivotal to soldiers in the battlefield. The area is home to a large population of retired residents, who rely on Social Security checks and medications. In addition, from an economic development perspective, delays in service for business mailings and elimination of bulk mail processing discounts will result in higher business costs and seriously impact the ability to operate business quickly, critical in today’s global economic environment.

I will be leading a delegation of community leaders to Washington, D.C. this spring and welcome the opportunity to meet and discuss this issue. We urge you to reconsider your model for determining closures and keep Tucson competitive in the economic recovery.

Sincerely,



Joe Snell
President & CEO
Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities, Inc.

cc: Senator John Kyl
Senator John McCain
Representative Gabrielle Giffords
Representative Raúl Grijalva
City of Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild and City Council
City of Tucson Manager Richard Miranda
Pima County Board of Supervisors, Chairman Ramón Valadez and Supervisors
County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry
TREO Board of Directors and Chairman’s Circle