Amidst the acres of negative newsprint about the woes of the United States Postal Service (USPS), something pleasant for a change. The US postal operator has been named as the number one government agency for providing business opportunities for diverse business owners throughout the USA.

DiversityBusiness.com had its 16th Annual National Summit on Tuesday last week (26th April) and USPS was one of a number recognised at the event.

More than 1.5 million businesses with diverse owners took part in an online election that was held by the website to determine the top organisations for diversity in the US.

The award was given on basis of participants’ responses to questions in regards volume, consistency, and quality of business initiatives a government agency grants to companies owners by woman and minorities.

USPS has done very well in these awards, and has ranked among the best government agencies for the last 15 years. For the last five years it has been awarded the top honour.

“The Postal Service is honored to receive this award again this year,” said US Postmaster General Megan J. Brennan. “The Supplier Diversity program continues to strengthen our competitiveness in the marketplace. I am proud of our continued commitment to maintaining a strong, competitive and diverse supplier base.”

Whatever politicians and bureaucrats do to tackle real and perceived issues in a postal operator, the fact remains that national postal services such as the USPS and Royal Mail still have very high social value to the communities and countries they serve. Where it would be unlikely that the US military industrial complex would come anywhere near top in such awards, they get more attention than the lowly but well loved postal service. Perhaps more positive news should reflect this core value.