We are Blue Ridge

Creating a positive impact for all we touch so that we leave each community better than we found it.

BRC History

Our Home is your Home

The Blue Ridge Parkway provides the inspiration for Blue Ridge Companies, formed in 1997 in the heart of North Carolina. Founders David Couch and Chris Dunbar drew their inspiration from the determination and perseverance of the engineers who built the viaduct along the mountain. Those engineers creatively solved the challenge of navigating the mountain while maintaining the natural beauty and integrity of the mountains. For the Blue Ridge Parkway, the philosophy of creative compromise resulted in a beautiful piece of engineering, and an award-winning bridge. For Blue Ridge Companies, this same philosophy has resulted in strong relationships and success within our industry, and an award-winning company. David Couch and Chris Dunbar envisioned a company that could integrate all phases of real estate - development, construction and management in order to operate more efficiently on behalf of its clients. They believed this synergy was the key to optimizing a real estate investment and they made it the primary focus of their company. Blue Ridge has been able to utilize creative solutions in order to solve the challenges that face our partners and clients in the industry for more than two decades.

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COMMUNITY

Blue Ridge Companies works hard to make a Positive Impact in the communities we serve. Whether supporting our local food drives, Toys for Tots, Veterans’ Affairs, or Special Olympics, Blue Ridge has an active commitment to making a difference in our communities.

Volunteer with Us
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Our Leadership

Jeff Smith
Chief Investment Officer

As the Chief Investment Officer and member of the Investment Committee of Blue Ridge Companies, Jeff is responsible for the oversight of the company’s real estate investment processes, including internal underwriting, analyzing asset acquisitions, capital structuring, and conducting portfolio performance analysis.

Before joining Blue Ridge, Jeff had a 29-year career in Commercial Banking with Wells Fargo Bank / Wachovia Bank, with 5-years at BB&T, where he worked in production, credit, and portfolio management primarily within the areas of real estate commercial banking, real estate capital markets, and private debt placement. During his career Jeff participated in underwriting over $2 billion in recourse and non-recourse structured debt for commercial real estate. As a Credit Manager, Jeff oversaw a portfolio of $2.4 billion in real estate assets across several states.

Jeff is a graduate of Wake Forest University where he earned a Masters of Business Administration from the Babcock Graduate School of Management and a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from the Calloway School of Business and Accountancy.