You may not think of a businessman as the first pick for executive director of HoneyRock, but upon meeting Matt Erickson ‘95, I understood instantly why he had been chosen to succeed outgoing director Rob Ribbe ‘87 M.A. ‘90. Arriving at Sam’s Cafe, wearing a light puffer coat, the kind that any classic HoneyRocker would wear, Erickson exudes energy and quiet enthusiasm, just like the retreat center itself.
Erickson, who joined HoneyRock’s advisory board in 2017, was working as the chief revenue officer at LeadVenture, a software company for auto dealerships, when he was selected to take over as executive director of the camp. Before that, after getting his MBA at Northwestern University in 1999, he worked as a finance analyst at PepsiCo and then as a vice president of business operations at CDK Global, another software company for vehicle dealerships.
In July, the college announced that Erickson had been hired as Ribbe’s replacement.
HoneyRock, Wheaton College’s campus in the NorthWoods of Wisconsin that also serves as a retreat center, has a history of unexpected leaders. Harve Chrouser ‘34, a former football coach, founded the center in 1951 along with his wife, Dot.
Ribbe was a physical education major at Wheaton before ascending the ranks of leadership at HoneyRock and eventually becoming executive director in 2000. Ribbe announced in September that he would step down from the executive director role.
Erickson is a second-generation HoneyRock camper. His mother was a camper and then a counselor back in the early days of HoneyRock in the 1950’s and 60’s. Erickson speaks highly of the camp and the impact it had on his mother.
“You can imagine there weren’t many programs in the ‘50s or ‘60s that invested in leadership development for women,” said Erickson. “She was coached, personally mentored, by Dot Chrouser.”
Erickson began attending HoneyRock as a camper in 1984, and it was there that he became a Christian one summer. Since then, he and his wife Susan, along with their three children, have spent numerous summers in the North Woods. Erickson said that when he looks back at his children’s personal and spiritual growth, he sees the influence of their seven summers attending HoneyRock with various camp programs.
“All the years going to camp, it stretched them and grew them and gave them a really good investment and an adventuresome spirit, so that when it came time to transition to college, it was a much easier transition,” said Erickson. “They were used to doing these two-week periods away from home, or Advanced Camp, which is longer, and it was a wonderful investment in them to prepare them.”
It was only a year or two after Ribbe began discerning his succession plan that Erickson voiced his interest in the director role. Erickson said deciding to change career fields from the business world to HoneyRock felt like a different, but equally important, type of Christian service.
“The key realization for me was that to move from a corporate business, secular-type position to a Christian organization is not from less than to better,” said Erickson. “It was freeing for me to come to a realization that I could fully serve Christ if I stayed on the path where I was, or changed to this path.”
Erickson said the most surprising thing that he has learned about HoneyRock is that “everything is a program,” referring to how each of the staff is trained specifically to connect on a personal level with campers and guests. This includes everyone from the grounds crew to the kitchen staff, as well as camp counselors.
Luke G. Smith ‘22, a second-year master’s student in the Outdoor Adventure Leadership Program, is one of those HoneyRock staff. He currently works as an elementary residential camp coordinator, planning programs at the center for school-age children. Smith said that Erickson’s background in business and with HoneyRock have equipped him to run it.
“We’re excited to have Matt steering the ship,” said Smith. “His business background and time as a camper parent give him a unique perspective on the ministry, and we’re excited to see what the Spirit does through him!”
Erickson, who lives with his family in Arlington Heights, Illinois, about 20 miles from the Wheaton College campus, will be splitting his time between Wheaton and the North Woods to facilitate more meetings in-person in both locations.
“Email is the worst form of communication of all time,” he said. “So my focus will be face to face.”
His leadership style seems to be centered around listening to others. In starting his new role, he said he has been spending time with different areas of the camp and allowing the staff to teach him. He also acknowledged how Ribbe has been helping him prepare for the transition, and said he was grateful for Ribbe’s work to build up the camp and its programs over the last few decades.
“I am grateful to have benefited from Dr. Ribbe’s thoughtful planning and preparation for this transition in leadership,” said Erickson in an email to the Record. “The team and I are pleased that he will be staying with HoneyRock in a key role as our academic programs director.”
Olivia R. Sanchez-Moreno is a first-year student, originally from the Austin neighborhood of Chicago, and a guest contributor to the Record.
