The move is expected in 2006 to an as-yet-undetermined location.

Debbie Pfeiffer is the vice president and general manager of PSI Group, Inc. (Enquirer photo/MEGGAN BOOKER)

Earlier this week, Stamford, Conn.-based Pitney Bowes announced a $35 million deal to acquireAncora Capital & Management Group, another mail-processing and presort firm.

When the acquisition is complete, Pitney Bowes' PSI Group will handle close to 10 billion pieces of mail annually.

The Springdale plant is one of 25 sites in the group and processes nearly 29 million pieces of mail daily for 65 Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky clients, whose mail batches range from 500 to hundreds of thousands of letters a day, company vice president Debbie Pfeiffer said. One machine at the 18,000-square-foot plant, which has 70 full-time employees, can sort more than 30,000 pieces of mail an hour. David Bush, general manager at PSI, said the new facility will be 40,000 to 50,000 square feet. He said the company does not have a projected cost yet because it is unsure whether it will build a new plant or move into an existing business. He also said the company will add 20-25 employees at the new site.

Before the days of companies such as PSI, mail was presorted according to ZIP code by hand. Some businesses still presort by hand; others have equipment to do the work.

The Postal Service has come to rely on high-tech presorting companies to sort large volumes of mail, which helps it get the mail out more quickly.

Businesses that presort get discounts in postage costs from the Postal Service.

The presort companies collect mail from clients, sort it, then hand it off to the post office for final delivery.

Since the onset of e-mail, the Postal Service is pushing even more to become "faster, more efficient and to offer new and better services," said Bonnie Manies, spokeswoman its Cincinnati district.

One example is automated postal centers - about 20 are in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky - where customers can buy stamps, send packages and obtain numerous other services once available only at a post office.

"Electronic transmission has taken away some of our business, but we've also been able to use it to grow our business," Manies said.

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