(323) 786-2742
Sat, Nov 05
|Hillsborough Community College
10th Annual Veterans Entrepreneurship Training Symposium
This event is designed for Veterans, active-duty personnel, their spouses, and civilian business partners who are interested in starting a business, or already have a small business and need additional knowledge and tools to grow that business. The general public is also welcome to attend, learn, ne
Time & Location
Nov 05, 2022, 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM
Hillsborough Community College, 4001 W Tampa Bay Blvd, Tampa, FL 33614, USA
About the event
KEYNOTE SPEAKER - Matthew “Griff” Griffin
Co-Founder and CEO, Combat Flip Flops
Matthew “Griff” Griffin is a former Special Operations Army Ranger, West Point Graduate,co-founder and CEO of C ombat Flip Flops, award winning documentary producer, and philanthropist.
After serving four combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq with the storied 2d Ranger Battalion, Griff departed the military in 2006 to create positive, sustainable change in conflict areas. With the skills learned in the military, Griff co-founded Combat Flip Flops; manufactured fashion and lifestyle products in war zones, used profits to fund girls education, cleared land mines, and supports veteran charities. The company that everybody thought would fail created a moving TEDx talk, successfully secured Mark Cuban as a partner on Shark tank, and funded education for over 800 girls in Northern Afghanistan.
In addition to building a globally respected philanthropic brand, Griff was a member of the first team to successfully ski off the tallest mountain in Iraq in the award winning Film, A dventure Not War: Ski Iraq . In 2019, Griff lead and executive produced the film, H ere Am I, Send Me, a Sundance recognized film that follows the trail of Griff and fellow Rangers freefalling a Gold Star Mother into the opening ceremonies of the 75th Anniversary of D-Day.
In 2021, Griff founded 46&2 Transitions, a non-profit organization focused on helping transitioning veterans overcome PTSD through holistic methodologies. He is currently leading a 2 year clinical study to prove the effectiveness of focused meditation and plant medicine to heal wounds sustained in combat.
APPLY TO COMPETE IN THE $12,000 FINANCIAL PITCH
Do you have a business idea or early stage business? Would you like to apply for the 9th Annual VETS Business Pitch Event and compete for $12,000 in cash and other prizes? You must be a Veteran, service member, or spouse to be considered for the financial pitch competition.