BANGOR – As the U.S. Postal Service began in recent years to introduce new products and services, 29-year postal veteran Charles Gokas knew it was time for personal changes as well.

Having spent 17 years as Dexter’s postmaster and five years leading the Waterville post office, Gokas decided early this year to apply for Bangor’s vacancy when former Postmaster Steve Hathaway retired.

“As a postmaster, you wear many hats,” Gokas said Tuesday at his office. “A postmaster is the ultimate multitasker, and it’s just my personality to enjoy that kind of position.”

Gokas beat out several applicants for the competitive position and took over the Bangor office in March. The larger facility has brought with it more responsibilities, Gokas said, but so far he has taken them on headfirst.

“This is a job I’ve aspired to, and I plan on staying in Bangor until I retire,” Gokas said.

Gokas already has a long history with the postal service in New England dating back to 1972 when he worked as a temporary employee in White River Junction, Vt., while he attended Plymouth State College in nearby New Hampshire.

“My father was a postmaster too, so that might have influenced my decision to pursue that line of work,” he said.

Gokas moved in 1975 to a full-time clerk and carrier position in Newport, N.H., and then to various positions in Hanover, N.H., before leaving for Maine in 1984.

“Maine was a good place for [my wife and me] to start a family,” he said. “It’s a good environment to bring up children.”

Working in Dexter gave Gokas the opportunity to raise his two children, but now that they are out of the house, tackling a new professional challenge – specifically a larger post office – became a goal, he said.

One of the pleasant surprises has been the number of people he already knows in the Bangor facility because of his years with the postal service.

“Usually in a position like this, I’d be seeing strangers every day; it’s nice to recognize a lot of faces,” he said.

Since taking on his new role, Gokas has directed his efforts to issues he said still need to be addressed, including letter carrier safety. Dog bites and poor sidewalk conditions in inclement weather are the top concerns, Gokas said.

“Our goal is to provide a safe environment for our personnel and to maintain and improve the service we provide,” he said. “We ask for our customers’ help in accomplishing both of these goals.”The other area that Gokas is addressing is to find ways to generate revenue in changing times.

“We always want to improve service,” the new postmaster said. “Not that is was poor to begin with, but we really want to grow the business aspect and increase revenue.”

Gokas said getting the word out about new USPS options such as carrier pickup – in which postal employees pick up packages from customers’ homes – would help the financial front.

He also would like to inform customers about increased Internet services.

One plan he has is to set up an information booth at the National Folk Festival in August in Bangor.

“New services come up so quick, it becomes important to roll those services out to educate the public who might not know that the services are available,” he said.