ANN ARBOR, Mich., June 25, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Con-way Inc. (NYSE: CNW) today announced this year's winners of the CEO Constellation Award, presented annually to select employees for exceptional achievement, performance and leadership.

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Chosen from hundreds of peer-nominated employees across the company's 30,000-person workforce, this year's winners join an elite group of past recipients who exemplify the company's lean culture, purpose and core values of Safety, Integrity, Commitment and Excellence.

"One of the key principles of our lean culture is recognizing employees who go above and beyond for our customers, facilitate effective teamwork and contribute to learning and continuous improvement," said Douglas W. Stotlar, Con-way's president and chief executive officer. "The Con-way CEO Constellation Award is the highest honor we can bestow on employees who exemplify these ideals. They illustrate our purpose by demonstrating our lean principles and core values in action through their attitude, work ethic, focus on safety and respect for their fellow employees."

Stotlar and his executive leadership team honored the recipients at a recent ceremony, where recipients also received a monetary award and a specially sculptured crystal vase, providing lifelong recognition of this highest employee achievement.

Con-way's 2015 CEO Constellation Award recipients are:

Gina Abbate, Customer Service Representative, Con-way Freight, Hartford, Connecticut: Gina is a straightforward and effective leader who is highly regarded among her peers for her hard work and tireless dedication to her team's success. As a Lean leader, Gina is detail-oriented, enthusiastic, and passionate. Her leadership was instrumental in earning the Hartford service center its bronze Lean certification. She is committed to Con-way Freight's Lean journey, even traveling to new pilot locations to guide them in their early stages of Lean.

Karen Farrell, Marketing and Brand Development Manager, Menlo Logistics: Karen regularly demonstrates her commitment to the success of Menlo through her work in communicating and building Menlo's brand. Specifically, Karen was instrumental in the company's 2014 brand refresh campaign and launching the new Menlo Logistics website. Karen works exceptionally hard, successfully managing key marketing projects while support a multitude of other business development and communications initiatives for Menlo. Karen is a team player who leads by example. She demands excellence, holding herself and her peers to high standards.

Tim Hicks, Driver Advocate, Con-way Truckload: As a driver advocate, Tim is dedicated to being an effective intermediary between drivers and management. Often the first one into the office and the last one to leave, he goes above and beyond to provide quality service and support a quality engagement experience with drivers. Most notably, Tim spearheaded the "Passionate Driver Focus" program, which aims to educate non-driving employees of the challenges that professional drivers face. This is an innovative program that has contributed significantly to Con-way Truckload's low driver turnover rate. As a former driver who surpassed one million safe driving miles, Tim has tremendous credibility with drivers, relates and interacts well with them, and is an outstanding communicator across all levels to ensure drivers' voices are heard and successful retention programs are continually refined and improved.

Joe Jones, Driver Sales Representative and Driver Trainer, Con-way Freight, Pompano Beach, Florida: Joe is a knowledgeable, hardworking, and dedicated individual. He goes above and beyond to ensure the success of not only himself, but his local team and the company. He is quick to volunteer for weekend deliveries to guarantee a positive consumer experience. Joe is committed to safety, achieving more than 1 million accident-free miles. He uses this experience and knowledge in his role as a driver trainer to ensure all drivers are properly trained and operate with the highest attention to safety. He carries himself with integrity and consistent professionalism and is a role model for those he works with.

Mike Senflug, Service Center Manager, Con-way Freight, Carlstadt, New Jersey: Mike's passion and dedication to leading his team is evident to all those who work with him. Mike understands that profitability comes not only from respect toward the customer, but also by building a culture of respect among the team, an approach that helped Mike lead his team to become the first site in Con-way Freight's network to achieve Silver Lean certification. Mike brings pride and integrity to the job, traits that inspire his team, who have noted that he "brought a sense of pride back to the job." Mike is a compassionate individual who volunteers with the Wounded Warrior Project and supports his whole team in living Con-way's purpose of building communities and enriching lives by delivering the things that matter.

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About Con-way Inc.

Con-way Inc. (NYSE: CNW) is a $5.8 billion freight transportation and logistics services company headquartered in Ann Arbor, Mich. Con-way delivers industry-leading services through its primary operating companies of Con-way Freight, Con-way Truckload and Menlo Logistics. These operating units provide high-performance, day-definite less-than-truckload (LTL), full truckload and multimodal freight transportation, as well as logistics, warehousing and supply chain management services. Con-way also operates Con-way Manufacturing, a trailer refurbishing and manufacturing company which supplies trailing equipment to the company's trucking fleets. Con-way Inc. and its subsidiaries operate from more than 500 locations across North America and in 20 countries.

For more information about Con-way, visit www.con-way.com.

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SOURCE Con-way Inc.