Brandon Smith Appointed President & Chief Executive Officer

(Mankato, MN) In a recent all-company meeting, Tailwind Group’s Managing Principals announced and appointed Brandon Smith as its President and Chief Executive Officer. Brandon’s duties as CEO will begin effective immediately. Lane Gravley will continue his role as president over the next several months and will transition responsibilities to Brandon over that same period.

Smith has served in various roles for the past ten years at Tailwind Group, starting as a Leasing Agent in 2014. In his most recent role as Vice President of Operations and Development, he has successfully pioneered the growth and development of Tailwind Group’s student housing portfolio, which now contains nearly 17,000 bedrooms across 36 unique properties. He has also played a crucial role in the organization’s acquisition strategy, with an intent focus on value-added renovations. “Brandon is the best person to lead the next phase of Tailwind Group’s growth and transformation. He has demonstrated excellent leadership, vision, and an innovative mindset ideal for propelling Tailwind Group forward”, said Michael Sather, one of Tailwind Group’s founders and Managing Principals.

“I am beyond excited and honored to serve in this new role,” said Smith. “I have countless people to thank for trusting and believing in me. I especially want to recognize the founders of Tailwind Group and Lane for investing so much in me over the years; I certainly would not have had this opportunity without them. I also must thank the hundreds of Tailwind Group team members who work so hard daily to make all this possible.”

Lane Gravley Transitioning to Chief People Officer

Lane Gravley has served as Tailwind Group’s President for the past four years and has overseen tremendous growth, the formation of the company structure, and the implementation of leadership principles. Upon the successful transition of responsibilities as President to Smith, Gravley will transition full-time into the newly created role of Chief People Officer.

In this new role, Gravley will exclusively focus on Tailwind Group’s most important asset: its people. His day-to-day will involve working with company leaders to optimize the team member experience, coaching principles of leadership development, and maintaining and enhancing Tailwind Group’s workplace culture. “Brandon is the perfect fit to lead Tailwind Group into the next phase. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with him over the past four years and am excited to continue to work with him and other company leaders on my true passion, which is people and culture”, said Gravley.

“I have learned so much from Lane over the past years,” said Smith. “His passion for people and their personal and professional development is unrivaled, so we are extremely excited to see him take on and embrace this new role. I hope all our team members see this as a major commitment to ensure that even as our company grows, we will never let it be at the expense of our people and culture.”

Tailwind Group is a vertically integrated real estate company. Its core focus is off-campus student housing, in which it is a top twenty owner and manager in the country. Its current real estate portfolio consists of approximately $1.3B in assets under management, 17,000 student housing bedrooms, and nearly 700,000 square feet of commercial real estate. Its reach spans 15 different states and 21 different college communities.