Middle Bay Homes co-founder Will Daniel was named to the Tampa Bay Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 class of 2022. The Business Journal published his profile on October 17, 2022, under the headline Meet William Daniel, a 2022 40 Under 40 honoree. They went formal with William. We’ll stick with Will.
Will co-founded Middle Bay with Cory Frier, and Middle Bay Homes is part of Building Easier® Construction Group, the Tampa-based parent company he and Cory co-founded. To be clear about whose honor this is: it’s Will’s, personally. It isn’t an award to Middle Bay Homes, and we won’t dress it up as one. But the person on the list is one of the founders whose names and licenses go on every Middle Bay build, so it seemed worth a few words here.
What the list is
The name tells you the age cutoff, and the Business Journal picks the class. We haven’t seen its judging criteria or the full list of honorees, so we won’t guess at either in print. What we can say is simpler: a regional business paper looked across Tampa Bay in 2022 and put Will’s name in that year’s class.
Why the people behind a builder matter to you
An honor for a founder isn’t a warranty, and it isn’t a reason on its own to hire anyone. But choosing a custom builder is mostly choosing people. You work with them through design, permitting and construction, and you rely on them after the keys change hands.
On a Middle Bay build, those people have names. Cory Frier is the licensed qualifier, holding Florida’s Certified General Contractor and Certified Roofing Contractor licenses. Will holds Florida residential contractor license CRC1332115, and he spent 9 years at James Hardie, the fiber cement siding manufacturer. His work centers on the siding, roofing and window systems that keep Gulf Coast wind, water and sun out of a house.
Credit where it’s owed
Nobody lands on a list like this by themselves. The work behind it belongs to the crews on our job sites, the trade partners who fit our schedules into theirs, the office team that keeps every job on its calendar, and the Middle Bay clients who handed us a lot and a set of strong opinions about finishes. Thank you. The trust is the part we don’t take lightly.
More from 2022
It was a good year to be reading the Business Journal. In July, Middle Bay’s parent company made the Business Journal’s Fast 50.
Update: In 2026, Will took part in Habitat for Humanity Tampa Bay Gulfside’s 2026 CEO Build, and Middle Bay donated siding to Habitat’s builds. Read about the 2026 CEO Build.
What to do next
If you’re choosing a builder, start by meeting the people. The About page introduces both founders, and New Homes shows what the team builds. When you’re ready to talk about a lot or a plan, call (813) 421-9932.
Middle Bay Homes, CGC1539414, CCC1337297, CRC1332115.
