Visionary Homes names former Oakwood exec Ryan Smith CEO

Ryan Smith will become CEO of Visionary Homes on Sept. 1, 2026, as founder and current chief executive Jeff Jackson transitions to chairman of the board, the Utah homebuilder recently announced.

Smith joined Visionary Homes on June 15 and will work alongside Jackson through the summer before formally assuming the chief executive role in September, according to the company’s announcement. Jackson, who co-founded Visionary Homes in 2004, will remain full-time through the end of 2026 to support the handover and then move into the chairman role on Jan. 1, 2027.

The company said the move is part of a multiyear leadership succession plan at one of Utah’s largest privately held homebuilders. Visionary Homes builds communities from Logan to St. George and operates in partnership with Misawa Homes America, the U.S. subsidiary of Japan’s Misawa Homes Co. Ltd.

Smith brings more than 20 years of experience in production homebuilding and master-planned communities across the Mountain West and Southwest. He joins Visionary from Oakwood Homes, a Clayton Homes company, where he served as president and chief operating officer of a four-market, $442 million homebuilder. The company said he grew sales and starts 41% in 2025 even as those markets declined.

Earlier in his career, Smith ran Oakwood’s Utah and Arizona division from Salt Lake City and held division leadership roles at Beazer Homes and Shea Homes. He holds an MBA from the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business.

“I am honored to join Visionary Homes,” Smith said in the announcement. “Jeff and the Visionary team have created a special organization. You can feel Visionary’s commitment to quality in everything they do by simply being around the team.”

“From the first time I met Ryan, one thing was clear: he is a kind, driven leader people instinctively respect,” Jackson said. “He is the right person to lead Visionary forward, and he has my full confidence and support.”

Visionary Homes said it is scaling toward 2,000 annual home starts and expanding into neighboring markets. The company said its mission, values and commitments to trade partners, customers and communities will remain unchanged through the transition.

The leadership change comes as Utah remains one of the nation’s fastest-growing housing markets, with strong in-migration and persistent supply constraints. A CEO with a track record of growing volume in softening markets could influence how aggressively Visionary Homes pursues land, labor and materials across the state and into adjacent regions.