The Alexandria, VA-based Envelope Manufacturers Association's Foundation for Paper-Based Communications launched an institute yesterday that will focus on postal reform.
One reason the Institute for Postal Studies was formed is that the paper-based communications industry is tied to the success of the U.S. Postal Service, the foundation said. It added that a research and education effort on postal reform is necessary because of the many improvements needed by the USPS.
Using white papers and symposiums that will include input from many stakeholders, the institute will study topics such as business and financial practices, best practices and models from other regulated industries.
Depending on the topics, the institute will include mailing industry experts, USPS officials, other government agencies, experts from academia, the General Accounting Office, employees, labor unions and experts in law, economics and finances.
The institute supports a presidential commission for postal reform and hopes its studies and reports can be submitted to such a body. Insiders have said that a commission may be announced as early as December.
The first research project, already completed, is “A Study of Presidential Advisory and Congressional Commissions: Guidance to the Formation of a Postal Reform Commission.” Additional research projects on postal reform areas are planned to be submitted to a possible presidential commission.
EMA vice president Tonya W. Muse is executive director of the institute. Mary S. Elcano, former general counsel at the USPS and now a partner with Sidley Austin Brown & Wood LLP, will serve as counsel to the institute. For more information, contact Muse at [email protected] or 703-739-2200.
