$25 million deal: Maxima.

The Maxima Corp. has landed a $25 million contract with the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to assist in the sales and marketing of automation and address information system products. The contract will help the computer information management company, ranked No. 16 on the 1992 BE INDUSTRIAL SERVICE 100 with sales of $49.8 million, usher in a completely automated mailing system for the nation.

USPS officials say that by 1995, letter mail in the United States will be totally automated, and each piece of mail will have a bar code. Under the terms of the contract, Maxima will help prepare USPS customers to use the new advanced automated mail-processing system. The company will also provide technical assistance and sales support to USPS account representatives.

"Although Maxima is a minority-owned firm, it won the contract without a set-aside," says USPS spokesperson Sandra Stewart. The Lanham, Md.-based firm won the contract through a competitive bidding process with two other companies. Says Maxima Chairman and CEO Joshua I. Smith: "I am pleased that Maxima has been selected by the U.S. Postal Service to continue to provide valuable services in furthering its overall goals and objectives for the 1990s." The contract went into effect in February and includes an option to extend the agreement for an additional four years.

Stewart says it is the second contract that USPS has awarded Maxima. The first was awarded in 1989.

"We are the only company to win the contract twice," says Major L. Clark III, Maxima senior vice president of corporate development and administration. "This puts us in a stronger position to sell our services."

The company's reputation in this area is solid. Maxima has previously done technical services and barcoding for the Postmaster General's office in Washington, D.C. It also installed a computer network that allows USPS to use a high-tech telecommunications system in North Carolina.

Maxima recently purchased Communications Resource Group Inc., a small telecommunications services firm for an undisclosed amount. The Columbia, Md.-based firm provides a number of services, including computer system repair and creating customized area networks for companies across the nation. The purchase has already helped Maxima land a national contract to service all telecommunications needs for Fast Food Merchandisers Inc., the holding company for the Hardee's restaurant chain.