June 2012


www.hamptonroadsmessenger.com


Postal Service Moves Ahead with Consolidation Plan


9-Month Implementation; $1.2 Billion in Cost Reductions WASHINGTON —


The U.S. Postal Service has announced plans to move ahead with a modified plan to consolidate its network of 461 mail processing locations in phases. The first phase of activities will result in up to 140 consolidations through February of 2013. Unless the circumstances of the Postal Service change in the interim, a second and final phase of 89 consolidations is currently scheduled to begin in February of 2014.


“We revised our network


consolidation timeline to provide a longer planning schedule for our customers, employees and other stakeholders, and to enable a more methodical and measured implementation,” said Patrick R. Donahoe, Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer of the Postal Service.


“We simply do not have the mail


volumes to justify the size and capacity of our current mail processing network. To return to long-term profitability and financial stability while keeping mail affordable, we must match our network to the anticipated workload,” said Donahoe. “Our current plan meets our cost reduction goals, ensures seamless and excellent service performance throughout the implementation period, and provides adequate time for our customers to adapt to our network changes.”


The Postal Service will begin


consolidating operations this summer – which mostly involve transferring mail- processing operations from smaller to larger facilities. Due to the volume of high-priority mail predicted for the election and holiday mailing seasons, no consolidating activities will be conducted from September through December of 2012. Approximately 5,000 employees will begin receiving notifications next week related to consolidating and other efficiency-enhancing activities to be conducted this summer.


“We will be conducting


consolidation activities this summer at only 48 locations,” said Megan Brennan, chief operating officer of the Postal Service. “As a result, nearly all consolidating activities in 2012 will occur in August and then will resume again the early part of next year.”


These consolidating activities will


reduce the size of the Postal Service workforce by approximately 13,000 employees and, when fully implemented, will generate cost reductions of approximately $1.2 billion annually.


“The Postal Service will be


communicating with our customers and employees about these changes in great detail,” said Megan Brennan. “We will work closely with our customers to ensure there are no surprises as we move forward.”


The Postal Service also announced


The Hampton Roads Messenger


TowneBank Announces Quarterly Cash Dividends


Suffolk, Va. – Hampton Roads


based TowneBank (NASDAQ: TOWN) has announced that its Board of Directors on May 30, 2012 declared its second-quarter shareholder cash dividend of $0.08 per common share payable on July 12, 2012 to shareholders of record on June 29, 2012.


Also on May 30, 2012 the Board


it is working with its unions for an employee retirement incentive, although no final decision has been made. “The Postal Service has reduced the size of its workforce by 244,000 career employees since 2000 without resorting to layoffs,” said Brennan. “We are a responsible employer and we will work with our employees to ensure a smooth transition to a much leaner organization.”


The Postal Service also announced


that it would soon issue a new regulation to modify its existing Service Standard for overnight delivery. The Postal Service said a Final Rule would soon be published in the Federal Register that would initially shrink the geographic reach of overnight service to local areas and enable consolidation activity in 2013. The new rule would further tighten the overnight delivery standard in 2014 and enable further consolidation of the Postal Service mail processing network absent any change to the circumstances of the Postal Service.


“We are essentially preserving


overnight delivery for First-Class Mail through the end of 2013, although we are collapsing the distance that we can provide overnight service to the distribution area served by a particular mail processing facility,” said Megan Brennan. Approximately 80 percent of First-Class Mail will still be delivered overnight.


The Postal Service stated its


expectation to pursue additional consolidation activities for an additional 89 mail processing locations beginning in 2014 unless its circumstances change. These consolidations would be based on long-term service standards that would significantly revise mail-entry times for customers seeking overnight delivery.


“Given that the Postal Service is


currently projecting a $14 billion net loss in FY2012, and continuing annual losses of this magnitude, we simply cannot justify maintaining our current mail processing footprint,” said Donahoe.


When fully implemented in late


2014, the Postal Service expects its network consolidations to generate approximately $2.1 billion in annual cost reductions, and lead to total workforce reduction up to 28,000 employees.


The list of 140 mail processing


locations to be consolidated by February of 2013 is available at about.usps.com. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.


The Hampton Roads Messenger 757-575-1863 distributed in


Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Suffolk, and Virginia Beach.


Advertise...


IRS PROBLEMS? TAX PROBLEMS?


Professional Solutions for All Current and Past Due Returns • Audits • Seizures • Penalty Recovery • Offers in Compromise • Appeals


KATHRYN BOONE LANE The Tax Professional


Enrolled Agent • Federally Authorized Tax Practitioner


P.O. Box 1004 • Suffolk, VA • 23439 (757) 934-0012 • fax (757) 934-1609


of Directors declared a cash dividend of $5.71 per share on its Series C Fixed-Rate Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock. This preferred dividend is payable on July 2, 2012, to the shareholder of record as of June 15, 2012. This is the third quarterly dividend payment to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the shareholder of record, on the preferred stock issued to it by TowneBank under the Small Business Lending Fund Program.


The amount and declaration of


future cash dividends are subject to Board of Directors’ approval in addition to regulatory restrictions.


As one of the top community


banks in Virginia and North Carolina, TowneBank operates 26 banking


offices serving Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, Williamsburg, James City County and York County in Virginia along with Moyock, Grandy, Camden, Southern Shores, Corolla and Kill Devil Hills in North Carolina.


Towne also offers a full range of


financial services through its controlled divisions and subsidiaries that include Towne Investment Group, Towne Insurance Agency, TFA Benefits, TowneBank Mortgage, TowneBank Commercial Mortgage, Prudential Towne Realty, Towne 1031 Exchange, LLC, and Corolla Classic Vacations. Through its strategic partnership with William E. Wood and Associates, the bank also offers mortgage services in all of their offices in Hampton Roads and Northeastern North Carolina. Local decision-making is a hallmark of its hometown banking strategy that is delivered through the leadership of each group’s President and Board of Directors. With total assets of $4.14 billion as of March 31, 2012, TowneBank is one of the largest banks headquartered in Virginia.


3


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16