Veterans Entrepreneurship Training Symposium: 10th Anniversary!
The 10th Annual Veterans Entrepreneurship Training Symposium (VETS) will take place on Saturday, November 5, 2022 at 8:30 a.m. Visit the InLab@HCC webpage for the event to see more.
This event is designed for Veterans, active duty personnel of all service components, and 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, network, and collaborate.
Sponsorships at all levels are below. To learn more about sponsorship, call the HCC Foundation at 813.253.7114 or email us. For more information about the event, visit the InLab@HCC website, or email the Entrepreneurship and Innovation team.
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 Combat 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, Adventure Not War: Ski Iraq. In 2019, Griff lead and executive produced the film, Here 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.
