Mail communications evolved somewhat like this: smoke signals, private citizens carrying mail for their families as they migrated, the Pony Express, telegraph, telegrams and the postal service. In April 1860, the Pony Express, covering the distance from Missouri to California, was created using a relay system of 80 riders and 400 horses covering 1,800 miles in 10 days. At the time, the fastest form of mail delivery took more than three weeks by stagecoach. Short-lived and unprofitable, the Pony Express shut down services in October 1861, just two days after the transcontinental telegraph was finally completed.
While the Pony Express proved the viability of an overland mail delivery system, the telegraph proved more efficient, and by 1866, Western Union —with a near monopoly — established a profitable system. Private companies, charging $1 per word, made telegraphing attractive to businesses where immediate stock prices could affect investment decisions. And while the high cost was excessive for many, use of the telegraph also reduced the English language to a series of incomplete sentences, much like Instagram and Twitter today, making the telegraph somewhat more attractive. Arriving tomorrow 8AM cost $3 and ensured notification.
Today businesses rely on high-quality, full-color direct mail to advertise services from restaurant openings, homes for sale and retirement advice to property assessment notices and neighborhood flyers for yard sales. Peninsula Data Services Center (PDSC), owned and founded by Joe Lieberman, provides a variety of bulk mailing services including utility bills and real estate appraisal notices for the City of Hampton. As Lieberman points out, “PDSC is a one-stop shop helping customers solve mail problems.”
Lieberman’s path to PDSC wasn’t quite as direct as his mail services. Attending Old Dominion University to work on his electrical engineering degree, he went to work for Smith & Keene in 1969 but felt he hadn’t quite found his niche. Returning to college at Christopher Newport University (then Christopher Newport College), he completed his Bachelor of Science in accounting and business with a minor in computers.
When an uncle bought a computer and needed programming assistance, Lieberman found his calling. He eventually attended school in Winston-Salem, North Carolina for one week to learn programming. While working at Burroughs Computers, Lieberman developed programming that calculated Annual Percentage Rates (APR) for insurance and taught the computers to line up magnetic cards to balance budgets.
Lieberman has drafted flow charts as a draftsman, been a systems analyst, sold insurance and programmed mailing lists leading to the actual printing and mailing of those lists. He has supported more than 60 computer systems as far south as North Carolina. He has worked on various client computers and his programming of APR charts are accurate to 100th of 1 percent.
Born in Newport News, Lieberman’s private life has been as varied as his career. Earning his pilot’s license, he took aerial photos for customers. He competed in catamaran racing, placing third in national championships twice and still loves sailing today. He is the married father of two children and has four grandchildren.
Lieberman’s business acumen, devotion to his employees and care for his customers has helped make Peninsula Data Service Center truly a one-stop shop for 48 years with capabilities that include printing, sorting, folding and distributing for businesses throughout Hampton Roads and beyond. Thanks to Lieberman, direct physical mail still has a demonstrable place in engaging customers on a more individualized, personal level — a win for businesses and their customers.
TO THE POINT:
Peninsula Data Services Center
Owner: Joe Lieberman
Address: 321A Ed Wright Ln., Newport News, VA 23606
Phone: 757-873-2132
Business: Direct mail services
