John C. Erickson

John C. Erickson of Baltimore, Maryland is founder, chairman and CEO of Erickson Retirement Communities. In 1981, Erickson developed an industry-recognized prototype lifestyle for moderate-income retirees, and this model was developed at the Charlestown Retirement Community in Catonsville, Maryland. The $250 million campus is a converted turn-of-the-century-abandoned seminary turned into America's largest retirement community. Other Erickson communities include a joint-venture with the Ford Motor Company on a $135 million campus in Dearborn, Michigan; Oak Crest Village in Baltimore, Maryland; and communities in Springfield, Virginia; Tinton Falls, New Jersey; Silver Spring, Maryland; Peabody, Massachusetts; and Pequannock, New Jersey. The company currently has more than 6,000 residents and nearly 5,000 employees. From1972 to 1979, as president of Florida Leisure Communities, Inc., Mr. Erickson acquired, built and managed over 3,000 housing units for moderate-income retirees in Florida. In 1979, as owner and president of Retirement & Health Services Corporation, Mr. Erickson continued his leisure housing work in Florida and expanded into commercial development in the Palm Beach area.