United Group elevates Smetana to chief developing officer

Troy, NY Jeff Smetana of The United Group of Companies, Inc. has been promoted to chief development officer. In this role, Smetana will continue to oversee operations within the development department as well as collaborate with the department on future growth opportunities including additional developments and new acquisition opportunities.

Smetana was previously United Group’s executive vice president of development and was responsible for all phases of project development, including opportunity assessment, planning, entitlements, design development, financial modeling, construction budgeting, project management and construction and permanent financing.

Throughout his forty-year career, Smetana has developed and acquired more than $1 billion in completed projects. His work has included multi-family housing, senior housing, student housing, mixed use and commercial projects involving diverse forms of financing including conventional, tax-exempt, various tax credit programs and a variety of equity structures.

Prior to working at United Group, Smetana worked for Newman Development Group in Binghamton and as a certified public accountant for Ernst & Young. He has a master’s degree in accounting from the University at Albany and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from SUNY Oneonta.