During the Veterans Florida Expo three South Florida veteran entrepreneur program alumni were awarded with cash prizes totaling $17,500 as a part of their annual “Battle of the Pitches” competition.
Veterans Florida is a non-profit created by the State of Florida to help military veterans transition to civilian life and to promote Florida’s status as the nation’s most veteran-friendly state. The organization provides powerful tools for veterans to take advantage of the benefits of living and working in the Sunshine State.
Veterans Florida is on a mission to attract and retain veterans and their families by connecting them to employment, training, and educational opportunities, strengthen Florida businesses by educating them on the value and skillsets veterans bring to the workforce, providing training resources for their veteran hires, and enhance the entrepreneurial skills of Florida Veterans.
On June 7th and 8th 2024 in Tampa, Veterans Florida held their 2-day expo concentrated on finding veterans opportunities for work and supporting those who have or aspire to start their own businesses. Day 1 primarily focused on connecting veterans to resource organizations and leaders in the community who are experts in multiple areas from franchising to marketing to bootstrapping and more. Day 2 featured the career fair and the highly anticipated Battle of the Pitches where winners receive cash prizes to support their entrepreneuiral endeavors.
The free 2-day event featured employer exhibitors from industries such as aviation and aerospace, cleantech, defense and homeland security, financial and professional services, information technology, life sciences, logistics and distribution, manufacturing, agriculture, commercial construction, education, government.
The “Battle of the Pitches” competition had 12 finalists from Veterans Entrepreneurship programs from all around the state. We are extremely proud to announce that this year’s winners all came from the South Florida regional programs.. This year’s winners are:
-
1st Place | Jonathan Borgwing – Vig Solutions (Palm Beach) – $10K
-
2nd Place | Tom Pappas – Broken Veteran 3D (Broward) – $5K
-
3rd Place | Alberto Porro – Priority Objective Consulting (Miami-Dade) – $2.5K
Left to Right: Joe Marino (Veterans Florida), Jonathan Borgwing (Vig), and Dr. Kevin Cox, (Florida Atlantic’s Adams Center for Entrepreneurship)
First place winner, Jonathan Borgwing, Founder & CEO of Vig Solutions, took home the grand prize of $10,000. Jonathan completed the Florida Atlantic University Veterans Florida Entrepreneurship Program which is run by Dr. Kevin Cox, Director of FAU’s Adams Center for Entrepreneurship, and Jennifer Granger, Program Manager, Veterans Florida Entrepreneurship Program within Florida Atlantic’s College of Business.
Named in recognition of Florida Atlantic University graduate and serial entrepreneur Scott H. Adams, the Adams Center for Entrepreneurship brings students, faculty and the community together to fuel the innovation needed to create new venture opportunities in the ever-changing global marketplace. The mission of the Adams Center for Entrepreneurship is to create and educate entrepreneurial leaders who find sustainable solutions to economic and social problems.
Vig Solutions is a Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (DVOSB) with a mission to change the way organizations train. Through training, competency, value, and capability, Vig is an end-to-end solutions for all your training and development needs, with flexible options that are customized to right-size your challenges. The company builds expertly crafted learning solutions that lead to measurable outcomes for clients and their learners. Vig uses innovative technologies such as eLearning and virtual reality.
To learn more about Veterans Florida, please visit www.veteransflorida.org