Qualified Address PAVE Certification
1:13 PM Posted by James Endicott
What is PAVE?
An address list must be sorted by a variety of criteria, depending on the type of mail being sent (e.g., letters or flats), the mail class (First-Class, Standard, Periodicals) and on the location of each address. As one example, the Postal Service uses what is called a Sectional Center Facility (SCF) that serves as a sorting center for groups of ZIP codes. Manual sorting of mail can be complicated, because mail going to ZIP codes serviced by different SCFs must be sorted into separate, unique mail trays. ZIP codes numerically "next to one another" may actually be sent to different USPS sorting centers and should be sorted into separate trays. For instance, you might have a mailpiece with the ZIP code 94299 and one with the ZIP code 94301. If you sorted your address list into ZIP code order, you would put these mailpieces next to each other in the same sorting container. However, these ZIP codes are serviced by different SCFs. The mailpiece going to the 94299 address is sent to the 942 SCF, located in Sacramento, CA. The mailpiece going to the 94301 address is sorted at the 943 SCF, located in San Francisco, CA – seventy miles away. Thus, presort regulations require that those mailpieces be sorted into different containers before being submitted to the USPS.
Because of the complex and labor-intensive nature of manual presorting, many companies offer software that presorts your address list for you, making the mailing more cost-effective. Different software performs different presorts, so it is important that you research to ensure that the software you are purchasing sorts for the type of mailings that you do.
Before you begin a presort mailing, make sure:
The software sorts for the type of mailing you want to do – First-Class or Standard Mail, postcards, flats, letters, Carrier Route, etc. Each presort class is unique in sort order, price and documentation.
The software prints the USPS-required forms. There are many different versions of the presort form – which form you need to submit depends on the presort being performed. In general, the software should print the 3600x and 3602x forms. These forms give the USPS a breakdown of the cost for the mailing, as well as mailer information (permit number, mailing address, phone number, etc.). In addition, Form 3553 is required to verify the CASS certification of any automation mailing.
The software prints the Tray and/or Sack labels (also called Container labels). These tags use a standard Universal Product Code (UPC) barcode and determine the destination of each mail tray or sack. Your post office can provide you with the trays and sacks you will need.
Utah Business's 2008 Fast Fifty
12:58 PM Posted by James Endicott
By the way, We ranked #33. Not bad.
BYU Business Plan Competition Kicks Off
1:12 PM Posted by James Endicott
It's a new school year and that means a new year for the Business Plan Competition. This year appears to bring a lot of new challenges and a lot of unknowns. So far, I have no idea who will compete and who seem to be frontrunners leading into the competition. Last year, we knew about Klymite and Qgia and a few other companies early in the year. As you know, Klymite went on to win our competition and place 2nd at Moot Corp (the world championship). Our 2nd place team, SchoolTipLine also place 5th at Moot Corp. Without question, last year was the most successful year for the BPC to date.
So, leading into this year, I'm not sure who the frontrunners are, but I look forward to finding out. We have some new perks this year. It appears our winner might have the opportunity to ring the bell at the Nasdaq, and we are working on as new partnership with a VC firm that would bring Seed funding to one of our winners each year. Talk about excititng news.
Being the entrepreneur that I am, I have several ideas that I want to pass along to students looking to enter the competition and start a company, but do not have ideas. Feel free to get in touch with me if you are looking for ideas or want to join a team.
V100
1:13 PM Posted by James Endicott
I was voted to the VSpring 100 list for the third year in a row. The v100 was designed to help entrepreneurs and vSpring Capital locate and cultivate relationships among top CEO and CTO talent in the region. Members of the v100 are chosen through a peer-nominated and peer-selected process.
Basically, it is a CEO popularity list in Utah. At first I was not to keen on the idea, but I attended the luncheon and enjoyed meeting manyof the nominees.
I seem to get so tied up in my businesses that I rarely take time to socialize within the Utah tech community. The V100 gives me that opportunity.
Gruvie.com connects all your Social Network Sites with One URL
1:20 PM Posted by James Endicott
Gruvie also is a social community platform that is jam packed with photos, friends, groups, videos, chat, games and much more.
What I like most about Gruvie is that you can get your own URL, (mine is james.surfsforlife.com) to promote yourself and your favorite links. I uploaded links to my favorite websites and when my friends visit me, they can easily navigate to my facebook page or my Yahoo page or my Blog. Gruvie also allows you to make any page your home page.
Check out Gruvie and let me know what URL you choose!
Exact Wave is ranked on the Utah 100 Emerging Elite
1:22 PM Posted by James Endicott
Exact Wave, a leading provider of online address data management and enhancement solutions, has been recognized by the MountainWest Capital Network (MWCN) as one of the fastest-growing company in Utah in the Emerging Elite category for companies under 5 years old . Recognition is based on percentage revenue increases from 2002 through 2006. In 2004 - 2006, Exact Wave was also recognized by MWCN as one of the state's 15 'Emerging Elite' companies.
"We congratulate Exact Wave for continuing its impressive trajectory and making our Emerging Elite for the third straight year," said Todd Leishman, MWCN Vice President and Chairman of the Utah 100. "Exact Wave is a terrific example of a home-grown company that is really generating a lot of excitement, and we are pleased to include it among our winners.
"Exact Wave co-founder and CEO, James Endicott, accepted the award on behalf of Exact Wave. "We have received a lot of national recognition for our growth, but being recognized as an Emerging Elite is a great honor," says Endicott. "We love doing business in Utah. This state is a great place for entrepreneurs and business start-ups, to be recognized here in Utah as one of the fastest-growing companies in the state with the most dynamic entrepreneurial economy, is truly a great honor."
Side Note: Exact Wave is really growing very rapidly and we couldn't be more excited. The release of Qualifiedaddress.com has made Exact Wave the first address data management and enhancement solutions company with a complete SaaS offering.
Qualified Address Offers Free Service to Validate Addresses at Point of Entry
1:26 PM Posted by James Endicott
The software, known as Address Entry Pro, can be implemented using either XML or JavaScript. Given an address, city, and state, it will return a ZIP Code, +4 Code, and county. The software will also standardize the address to the standards published by the USPS in Publication 28.
Address Entry Pro allows businesses to validate addresses by accessing the address verification technology that powers Qualified Address Certified Scrubbing. Certified Scrubbing was evaluated by the U.S. Postal Service and awarded CASS Certification in August 2007.
Point-of-entry validation is a useful solution for businesses looking to improve the quality of their address data, speed up data entry, and append county information to an address automatically. It is especially popular with businesses that are validating and correcting shipping addresses or calculating sales tax rates in their website shopping carts.
New customers have two weeks free access to the address verification software and can validate up to 500 addresses. Following this free period, subscription rates are as low as $19.95 per month.
Businesses are invited to take advantage of this offering by visiting
http://www.qualifiedaddress.com/Services/Address-Verification-API/.
