• Michael Linn, who has served independent automobile dealers in the Carolinas and at the national level for 26 years, including 14 as CEO of the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association, has been named the first recipient of a new honor – NIADA’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
• Longtime NIADA chief executive officer Michael Linn will become CEO emeritus as the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association’s leadership succession plan goes into effect.
• Linn created a transition team, headed by NIADA past president Charles Teel, that has been working behind the scenes for more than two years to craft a plan to ensure a seamless transition in the association’s senior leadership.
• As part of the succession plan, Steve Jordan, hired in 2011 as chief operating officer after serving as executive director of the Florida IADA, will be promoted to executive vice president. Linn, who served 14 years as NIADA’s CEO, will move into the role of CEO emeritus.
• The award was presented at the National Leadership Awards Banquet during the annual NIADA Convention and Expo at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
• At the same ceremony, Tom Cross, a veteran of more than 25 years in the automotive industry who has guided Black Book’s recent innovations as its president, was honored as the newest member of NIADA’s prestigious Ring of Honor.
• Cross is the 23rd industry leader to be inducted into the Ring of Honor, NIADA’s highest award to a non-dealer.
