Ashe Mountain Times

Postmaster Drew Martin has been elected vice president of the National Association of Postmasters of the United States for area 7 (representing North and South Carolina).

The organization, whose membership includes about seventy percent of the nation's Postmasters, held this year's annual convention in Oklahoma City, where NAPUS President Robert Rapoza announced that Martin had also agreed to serve a third term as the group's national editor.

Martin, who has held the title of postmaster locally since 1993, has served his fellow postmasters at the state and national level in numerous positions within NAPUS in recent years, working as a national photographer, associate editor and then editor of the association's national magazine, the Postmasters Gazette.

Elected offices he has held include North Carolina Chapter editor, vice president and president. He's also served as state convention coordinator, public relations chairman, parliamentarian, postmaster representative and as a leading member of Postmaster Advisory Councils in both of North Carolina's two districts of the U.S. Postal Service.

Besides running the West Jefferson Post Office, Martin's postal roles here have included officer-in-charge assignments in North Wilkesboro, Taylorville and Boone, as well as customer satisfaction index coordinator for the Greensboro district.

Before coming to Ashe County, Martin worked as a communications manager for the postal service in California, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He also acted in various communications jobs in other parts of North Carolina and California, as well as at USPS Headquarters in Washington, DC. Prior to joining the postal service, Martin worked in broadcast journalism as a bureau chief and reporter for a Raleigh area television station.

Martin says he is honored to have been chosen by his fellow postmasters to represent them during such tumultuous times, referring to the unprecedented fiscal crisis currently facing the U.S. Postal Service.

“The postal service and its postmasters are facing challenges unlike anything we've ever seen. Our leaders will need to remain focused and determined to get us through this successfully,” Martin said.

Martin praises the hardworking managers who run postal operations at the local community level in small towns and big cities throughout the nation.

“We strive every day to make sure people are treated right, that they get their mail on time, and we do it efficiently and safely,” he said. “Postmasters are some of the finest folks I know. I'm proud to hold the title.”         

Martin lives in Jefferson with his wife, Barbara, who works as a pre-k teacher's assistant with Ashe County Schools. Their three children, Jessica, Anna and Jeffrey, all graduated from Ashe County High School and attend or have attended Appalachian State University in Boone.