Chris Hermon, North American RV Group manager at Thor Industries, is retiring but will remain with the company in an active consultant role.
Matt Zimmerman, Thor’s other North American RV Group manager, will take over both duties and report directly to President and CEO Bob Martin.
“My retirement comes at a time that I feel incredibly confident in the future of THOR and its operating companies,” Hermon said. “The Thor family has been incredibly good to me. I have loved the challenges of the RV industry and the ability to accomplish all that we did over the last 10 years. I’m grateful for the opportunity, the experience, and the dedicated people who work at Thor.”
Martin personally recruited Hermon to be the Heartland RV CEO in 2012. In 2019 Hermon was promoted to RV Group Manager, overseeing Heartland, Jayco and KZ RV.
“In this role, he helped enhance value and synergies across several of our companies,” Martin said. “It is with a great deal of mixed emotion that we make this announcement today. I am happy for Chris as he enters a phase of retirement with a specific focus to spend more time with family. We are sad to have him step back from an active day to day role but appreciate that he will be continuing in a consultant role and take comfort in knowing that his strategic insight is only a phone call away.”
Hermon started in the RV industry as Keystone RV general manager for the company’s Cougar, Hornet and Hideout travel trailer brands. In 2009, while serving as vice president of sales at Forest River, Inc., Hermon co-founded their Prime Time Manufacturing division.
Hermon said Thor is well-positioned to build on its market-leading position.
“I look forward to watching that happen and to contributing to its future in my new role,” Hermon said. “While I am retiring from the RV Group Manager role, I will remain engaged with the team as Thor moves forward, but it will certainly be from a different perspective. After an incredibly rewarding and successful run, I am ready for that new perspective and to have more time to focus on family.”
Hermon graduated from Ball State University’s 1995 class with a criminal justice degree and a business minor. He served in the United States Air Force from 1988 to 1992 and the Air Force Reserves until 1995.
Martin said Zimmerman’s knowledge and leadership in his role and assuming Hermon’s duties will continue to be an enormous strategic asset.
“We are excited about the opportunity to have Matt lead the whole group as we continue to leverage our many assets, including our dedicated and talented team members, industry leading products, size and scale across the enterprise,” Martin said.
