Research & Sponsored Programs Report ResearchAnnual201819-electronic | Page 13
Vets learn business skills in
entrepreneurship program
A series of classes at the University
of West Florida teaches military
veterans who want to start their
businesses how to go from “zero
to payroll.”
“It’s anything from making sure
you have a product that someone
wants to buy, knowing how much
it costs to build it or service to
knowing how to price it and
market it,” said Robert Foster,
who teaches the course.
The
12-week
cohorts
are
part of the Veterans Florida
Entrepreneurship Program of-
fered by Veterans Florida in part-
nership with the UWF Military
and Veterans Resource Center.
of the back of their truck — liter-
ally,” Foster said. “And some had
a company that was limping, and
they didn’t know where to go
next or they didn’t know how to
scale. So it’s really a mixture, and
that’s part of the challenge.”
The program starts with a series
of workshops that are used as a
recruiting tool to bring in veterans
for the Master Advanced Classes
where they learn how to realize
their business dream.
At the same time, the workshops
help
eliminate
“speculators”
who aren’t as serious, said Marc
Churchwell, who was director of
the UWF Military and Veterans
Resource Center when the center
began running the entrepreneur-
ship program.
“From the workshops, we’re able
to develop our class list of truly
committed veterans that have a
good business idea or concept,
or have their own business that
they’ve been running for less than
a year,” said Churchwell, who
retired from UWF in December
2018.
Judge Robert Foster speaks to contestants
during the UWF Elevator Pitch Contest.
Foster, a 40-year serial entrepre-
neur, is the program’s coordinator.
He said the veterans who take his
classes run the gamut of business
experience.
“A portion of them — all they have
is the tip of their pencil. Some of
them were selling something out
2018-2019 Research Annual Report
Each cohort culminates in a
“Shark Tank”-style competition
held at UWF where veterans pitch
their business plans to a panel of
judges composed of area busi-
ness leaders.
One
of
the
members
of
the
first
Veterans
Florida
Entrepreneurship Program held
at UWF was Alex Hill, who started
his business, Florida Coconuts,
by opening up mobile kiosk in
Alex Hill of Florida Coconuts makes his pitch
during the Veterans Florida Entrepreneurship
Program 2018 Pitch Day at the University of
West Florida.
HarborWalk Village in Destin.
Hill finished second in the pitch
competition held at UWF in May
2018. He then won second place
in a statewide pitch competition
held in Tampa, Florida, where he
represented UWF, competing
with
veteran
entrepreneurs
from the University of Central
Florida, University of North
Florida, Hillsborough Community
College, Florida Gulf Coast
University and Florida Atlantic
University.
In June, former Florida Gov. Rick
Scott presented Hill, a U.S. Army
veteran who served in both
Afghanistan and Africa, with the
Governor’s Young Entrepreneur
Award.
The
Military
Veterans
and
Resource
Center
recently
signed a three-year contract to
continue the Veterans Florida
Entrepreneurship Program until
2021, Churchwell said. The next
series of workshops launched in
January 2019.
Foster said he hopes to reach
out to alumni from UWF who are
veterans and ask them to become
mentors for the program or even
angel investors for some of the
businesses.
“We maintain a high standard
with everything we do. And (the
students) know coming in if they
want to get in this program it’s
going to mean something when
they get done. And it’s going
to be really helpful to them if
they want to start a business,”
Churchwell said.
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