Des Moines, IA?Tony Roper was named Ruan's 2014 Driver of the Year Wednesday after being selected from a pool of more than 4,200 professional drivers.

Roper, who operates out of T561 in Muscatine, IA, has been with Ruan since 1991 and has logged more than 2 million miles during his 23 years as a professional truck driver.

Ruan began the search for its seventh Driver of the Year when 154 drivers from Ruan's 270 operations were named Region Finalists based on length of service, safety performance, driving records and exceptional customer service. Vice presidents of operations then narrowed the field further to 16 Region Winners, who traveled to Des Moines with a guest July 14-16 for an award ceremony and other festivities. Out of the 16 Region Winners, Ruan's senior leaders selected Roper as the 2014 Driver of the Year.

"Each of you is an outstanding performer," said Ruan President and CEO Ben McLean at the award ceremony at the World Food Prize Hall of Laureates. "You consistently exceed our safety and service standards to meet the needs of our customers. This recognition is our way of honoring your dedication, professionalism and ongoing commitment to Ruan."

Each Region Winner was awarded a trophy and cash prize at the Driver and Terminal of the Year award ceremony at the World Food Prize Hall of Laureates. Roper, who hauls for Ruan customer HNI, was honored with a trophy, a cash prize and the 2014 Driver of the Year title.

Terminal of the Year

For the second year in a row, Ruan honored a Terminal of the Year. Our field team members?terminal managers, transportation supervisors, dispatchers, professional drivers, office assistants, technicians and other personnel?all work together to safely and efficiently deliver our customers' products each and every day. The Terminal of the Year program is intended to recognize the efforts of Ruan terminal teams as they demonstrate our Guiding Principles of Safety Focus, People First, Customer Satisfaction, Exceptional Performance and Continuous Improvement.

The Neosho, MO, operation, led by Terminal Manager Ruff Yokley, was named the 2014 Terminal of the Year at the award ceremony.

The Neosho terminals, which serve several customers including Jarden Consumer Solutions, Gavilon and Marmon/Keystone, were selected based on their safety records, exceptional customer service and overall performance.

To select the terminal of the year, each of our vice presidents of operations selected a terminal in their region that performs at the highest level. That performance was based on 12 criteria ranging from safety, employee retention, customer satisfaction and financial performance. Then each Region Finalist terminal completed a comprehensive workbook that combined data and answers to open-ended questions. Our senior team then narrowed the field to three Region Winners and selected the Terminal of the Year.

"All of the 10 terminals nominated demonstrate the quality and operational excellence we aspire to have across our company," McLean said at the award ceremony.

The 2014 Terminal of the Year received a trophy, awards for all winning terminal team members and a corporate-hosted celebration at the terminal, which will take place in August.

About Ruan

Founded in 1932, Ruan is a family owned transportation management company, providing Dedicated Contract Carriage and Supply Chain Solutions to customers across the country. With more than 83 years of transportation management experience, Ruan is one of the top 10 privately owned transportation service companies in the country. Ruan endows the World Food Prize, the foremost international award recognizing excellence and progress in overcoming global food production and distribution challenges. For more information about Ruan, visit www.ruan.com.

DES MOINES, IA (07/16/2015)(readMedia)-- State Treasurer Michael L. Fitzgerald announced that, as a result of Tuesday's online auction, $100 million will be deposited in thirty-four banks across the state. The state will receive an average rate of return of 0.23% on these six-month certificates of deposit. "This was our most successful auction to date," Fitzgerald said. "This is the largest amount we have distributed at one time through this program."

Fitzgerald created the Invest in Iowa program in 1983 as a way to deposit state funds in Iowa financial institutions. The treasurer's office uses an auction format offering state deposits to Iowa banks six times a year, which allows the state to earn a competitive return on the funds while ensuring local banks have the money they need to keep the economy moving. The financial institutions hold the funds as CDs and use the money to make loans. Currently the Invest in Iowa program has over $262 million invested in Iowa banks

"Demand for funds has been great this year," Fitzgerald stated. "This is a reflection of the current market. I am glad this program is available to help facilitate lending around the state."

Invest in Iowa quarterly auctions are held on the second Tuesday of January, April, July and October. In response to growing interest in this program, two auctions offering one-year term CDs are also held throughout the year. The next auction is scheduled for August 18, 2015 at 10 a.m and will offer one-year term CDs. Each auction has an established minimum interest rate and a minimum bid. To learn more about the Invest in Iowa program, visit IowaTreasurer.gov, select "Invest in Iowa" under the "For Businesses" tab or contact the treasurer's office at 515-281-5368.

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SPRINGFIELD - Lance Trover, Director of Communications, issued the following statement:

"Speaker Madigan and the legislators he controls will leave town without a responsible, balanced budget and without any reforms while taking a pay raise for themselves. That's unfair to taxpayers and the people they represent. It is time to stop protecting the political class at the expense of the middle class.

"Everyone knows the status quo is broken and Illinois needs to change. Governor Rauner is committed to enacting a true balanced budget and real reforms to grow the economy and free up resources to protect the most vulnerable. The legislature should join the governor in committing to move the state forward."

Q: How does Social Security measure up 80 years after being signed into law?

A: Generations of Americans have been protected against poverty thanks in large measure to this social safety net signed into law 80 years ago on August 14, 1935. Without question, Social Security is tightly woven into the social fabric of America. The fundamental foundation of the program hasn't changed in the last eight decades. Payroll tax revenues are collected on wages (12.4 percent is evenly divided between employee and employer) that finance retirement and disability benefits. Any excess revenue not used to pay current benefits is invested in interest-bearing government securities. The Social Security trust funds reflect payroll taxes plus interest accrued. The 15-year bonds are managed within the U.S. Treasury. These IOUs are redeemed to pay current benefits.

Although the foundation of Social Security hasn't changed in 80 years, the nation's demographics have changed considerably. Today 58 million people collect Social Security benefits funded by payroll taxes collected from 163 million workers. In 1945, the worker to retiree ratio was 40 to 16.  That ratio has declined to fewer than three workers per beneficiary today. This downward decline presents a challenging situation to policymakers, especially considering the retirement of the baby boom population. When more people exit the workforce than enter or stay in the labor pool, benefits will outpace revenue. In 1983 policymakers took big steps to restore financial solvency to Social Security. Bipartisan reforms were put in place 35 years ago to help strengthen this retirement safety net for millions of Americans to help protect the nation's elderly from impoverishment in retirement.

As Social Security observes an 80-year milestone this summer, it has outlasted plenty of political demagoguery. Those who use the nation's public's retirement program to score political points undermine the public trust. Although plenty of myths and misunderstandings may fray the edges of the safety net, the reality is that Social Security is a social contract among Americans that was built in 1935 and intended to last for generations yet to come.

Q: What are some of the most common myths or questions you are asked about Social Security?

A: With the rapid spread of rumors that circulate on the Internet and ripple across the spectrum of social media outlets, the durability of some misunderstandings is not surprising. The one I hear quite often is posed during town meetings and call-in programs. People believe members of Congress don't pay into Social Security and ask why not. As the lead Senate author of the Congressional Accountability Act, I am a long-time champion for holding lawmakers accountable to the same workplace laws that apply to Main Street.  And the fact is that federal lawmakers do pay Social Security taxes just like everyone else covered by the program. Since the 1983 reforms, all members of Congress pay into Social Security no matter how long they have been in office.

Another common question concerns Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). The Social Security Administration also manages this public insurance program for workers who have a medical disability that is expected to keep them from being able to work for at least 12 months. This program has experienced dramatic growth in recent years and it has put a financial toll on the disability trust fund. Nearly nine million workers now qualify for SSDI benefits. Recipients who receive monthly cash benefits are required under federal law to meet strict eligibility standards that are medically determinable physical or mental impairments.  Iowans who have questions about eligibility requirements, backlogged applications or the appeals process often contact my office for assistance navigating red tape.

As the former chairman and a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, which has legislative and oversight jurisdiction of Social Security, I have worked to weed out fraud in this important program to keep it intact. That includes calling attention to application fraud and backlogs that are choking the system from functioning effectively and hindering the disability insurance program from serving those it was intended to serve. Wrongdoers who game the system weaken the solvency of the cash-strapped SSDI trust fund and foster dependency at the expense of those truly in need of this lifeline.