How Tampa's Franklin Street struck a deal to buy Hodges Ward Elliott
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jan 14, 2026

When Preston Reid heard that the leadership of Hodges Ward Elliott was having conversations around a potential merger, he thought immediately of his friends at Franklin Street.

Reid, who'd been with HWE for three years, counts Franklin Street President Tony DeSisto and founder Andrew Wright among his friends. He saw similarities between the two firms' cultures as well as between Wright and HWE co-founder Bill Hodges, both of whom he described as "private, motivated entrepreneurs."

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