The only things that are certain about the location of the Becker Post Office is that on October 25, 2025, their lease at 13974 1st St. will expire and owner Grant Rademacher will not renew the lease because he has plans to redevelop the site. 

Officials Meet

According to Rademacher, he has been in talks with USPS since 2023 about relocating the Post Office to a building that would be connected to Bill’s Family Foods and G-Wil Liquors.  Rademacher said he has had initial plans drawn up for a 4,200 sq. ft. facility to be built and a 20-year lease in hand for USPS to sign.  He felt he had a handshake agreement, but soon learned that  USPS had not fully committed to that location. 

Since that time, USPS has floated plans to move operations to Monticello, but still have retail operations in Becker.  No plan has been finalized.  In the final weeks of Jan. 2025, USPS again reached out to Rademacher to discuss relocating to the Bill’s location.  Rademacher agreed to meet with representatives and invited Mayor Mark Kolbinger to join them.  Kolbinger reached out to Tom Emmer’s office and asked if he could help keep the Post Office in Becker. 

Barbara Harper, Constituent Services Director for Tom Emmer, joined Rademacher, Kolbinger, and Community Development Director Jacob Sanders for an informal, early afternoon meeting with officials from the USPS.  They met in the café of Bill’s Family Foods on Tues., Feb. 11.  Becker Postmaster Gordon Stanach, Big Lake Postmaster Kelly Johnson, Manager Post Office Operations Robin Dhondt, and Kevin Klimek, Project Manager for Design and Construction at USPS made up the delegation from USPS. 

Dhondt addressed the group explaining that they were there to review the different options for the new location.  Rademacher said that it is still possible to build the Post Office near Bill’s Family Foods.  He was confident that a new building could be constructed before the lease was up. 

Kolbinger made the case for Becker by stating that Grant (Rademacher) has plans and a lease in hand, all that’s needed is a signature.  He talked about the thousands of miles that would be added to routes if operations were to be moved to Monticello and highlighted the growth that is sure to come to Becker with the opening of Data Centers and warehouses. 

No Agreement Made

Kolbinger’s argument seemed to resonate with Dhondt and Klimek, but they were not the people who would make the final decision.  Their recommendations would be given to others at USPS.  This has been the source of frustration for Rademacher and Kolbinger who feel that no one they’ve spoken with from USPS has been able to give them a conclusive answer about the new location of the Post Office.  The meeting ended with the USPS delegation leaving to go visit other sites that day with no agreement made.