Montpelier has a new postmaster in the form of Aaron Burchardt.
A Defiance native and resident, Burchardt has been working for the United States Postal Service since 2006. This is his first posting as a postmaster.
He began as a part-time carrier Bryan and worked his way into a supervisor position in Defiance. That was followed by stops in Napoleon (18 months) and Archbold (4 months) as an acting postmaster.
The posting at Archbold preceded his coming to Montpelier.
He has a business degree from Defiance College and used that to get a job managing a Sherwin Williams store in Defiance before joining the Postal Service.
He switched jobs because a promotion for the paint business would mean a move to Cleveland. Since he wanted to stay in the area he talked to the local postmaster and learned about some carrier openings, took the civil service test and passed.
“I looked for a stable company in northwest Ohio and everybody’s got a post office,” Burchardt said. “I never looked outside the area.”
The area appeals to Burchardt because of the smaller towns and slower lifestyle. He has nothing against big cities, he just appreciates the intimacy of a town like Montpelier.
“I can know people by name,” Burchardt said.
So as he gets to know the 15-member crew at the post office, he is getting acclimated to the community itself.
“It’s similar to Archbold,” Burchardt said. “Everybody’s nice.”
He enjoys being a postmaster because it gives the chance to make changes and implement strategies to make it more efficient. He likes how the world views his position.
“In training they told me postmaster is one of three titles considered the most respected,” Burchardt said.
His job is to get all the workers, clerks, mail room and carriers work together.
“It’s a lot more involved than I thought,” Burchardt said. “I have to make things come together.”
That means getting the mail dropped off by trucks in the day out the door and filling two trucks for destinations elsewhere. There is an afternoon and an evening pick up, he said.
This system means any mail that comes in gets delivered that same day. Nothing is held over. Mail that gets put in boxes or collected is sent out the same night.
Burchardt is married with two kids: a son who is a senior in high school and a daughter in seventh grade.
He invites the community to come in and say hi. Getting to know the residents is one of his goals.
“I grew up in Defiance, I don’t know that much about the area,” Burchardt said.
James Pruitt may be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com