The eighth annual Ed Bobit Industry Icon Award was awarded to Mike Antich, the associate publisher and editor of Automotive Fleet Magazine, at the 2021Summer Roundtable Conference produced by the International Automotive Remarketers Alliance (IARA). The icon award recognizes leaders who shaped the industry and is jointly presented by the IARA and the National Auto Auction Association (NAAA).

The award is named after Antich’s former boss, Ed Bobit, who founded Bobit Business Media in 1961 with the flagship Automotive Fleet title and in the ensuring decades built up the company into the largest fleet media publisher that now spans more than 20 magazine brand titles and 25+ conferences, trade shows, and events. Bobit, who passed away in June 2014, led and worked at his company well into his 80s. His last column appeared in the April 2014 edition of Automotive Fleet.

Antich, who joined Automotive Fleet in 1985, has written and edited more than 5,000 articles in his career. A well-known industry speaker and authority, he was inducted into the Fleet Hall of Fame in 2010; served as president of the Automotive Fleet Leasing Association in 2008-09 and again in 2021-22 in addition to being a longtime board director; and as IARA Secretary and chairman of the public relations committee. He helped start IARA 20 years ago and has contributed to its growth and development.

“I wasn’t involved with IARA since Day 1, but since Day 2,” Antich told an awards luncheon on Aug. 26. “I’ve spent 20 years watching the IARA grow and it’s been one of the highlights of my career, watching this Alliance of remarketers start from a small group of people to becoming an influential voice of the consignor industry. The best days are ahead for the alliance. I see the future in the next chapter of this alliance growing our collaborations with the NAAA and NIADA.”