CHARLESTON, W.Va- The U.S. Postal Service is expanding a facility in Charleston as it takes over the work of a similar facility in North Carolina. The Charleston Remote Encoding Center will take over processing mail from North Carolina and South Carolina that currently is handled by a similar facility in Fayetteville, N.C., which will be closed in March, the Postal Service said Tuesday. The Charleston facility, which employs 350 workers who manually read addresses that automated machines cannot read, will hire more than 100 new workers. Nearly 190 workers are employed at the North Carolina facility. “It’s going to be a significant number of people, and it’s going to have a significant impact on our area,” said Michael Thompson, manager of the Charleston facility. “It’s good news.” The Postal Service said it also plans to close a postal center in Tampa, Fla., in March. The agency has closed 43 of its 55 remote encoding centers since 1999 because of improvements in technology. Automated equipment can now read more than 90 percent of mail.

source: Associated Press via Fayetteville Online