Florida is for Veterans, Inc
dba Veterans Florida
Request for Qualifications (RFQ):
Veterans Florida Entrepreneur Program 2026-27
July 17, 2026
1. RFQ Overview
The objective of this Request for Qualifications (RFQ) is to select one or more qualified
vendors, known as Partners (“Partners”), to provide entrepreneur outreach and training
services under the Veterans Florida Entrepreneur Program (“Program”) throughout Florida
as outlined in the Scope of Work.
2. About Veterans Florida
Veterans Florida is established by the State of Florida under s. 295.21, Florida Statutes, to
provide SkillBridge, career, and entrepreneur initiatives for separating and retiring
servicemembers, veterans, members of the Guard and Reserve, and their spouses who live
in or who wish to live in Florida, enhance employers’ workforce with military talent, and
promote all of Florida’s unmatched services, benefits, and quality of life to military and
veteran families.
For more information, visit https://www.veteransflorida.org/.
3. Veterans Florida Entrepreneur Program Overview
The Program, established under s. 295.22, F.S., connects business leaders in the state with
participants seeking to become entrepreneurs and may include activities and assistance
such as peer-to-peer learning sessions, mentoring, technical assistance, business
roundtables, networking opportunities, support of student organizations, speaker series, or
other tools within a virtual environment.
The Program purpose is to provide participants a comprehensive suite of training options
designed to enhance their entrepreneurial skills wherever they may be in their
entrepreneurial journey. The Program references the five most commonly used stages of
business to determine a participant’s potential level of needed training: Idea, Startup,
Growth, Maturity, and Exit.
Under the Program, a participant shall be an entrepreneur who is a veteran of the United
States military, an active duty member of the United States military within 12 months of
separation or retirement, a member of the Florida National Guard or United States
Reserves, or a spouse or unremarried former spouse of a veteran or servicemember, who
resides in Florida.
4. Key Principles of the Program
The driving principle for the Program is for training and assistance to meet the entrepreneur
where they are in the entrepreneurial journey. This approach favors tailored training over
information overload and facilitated discussion over lecture-formatted instruction.
Veterans Florida Entrepreneur Program
2
Training for participants in the Idea or Startup business stages shall be based on the Lean
Startup method which uses the Business Model Canvas, Lean Canvas, or similar derivation
to test an entrepreneur’s risks and assumptions about their idea or business. The general
goal for a participant in Launch training is to determine the validity or marketability of their
business idea or startup. Launch is the “gateway” to the broader journey of
entrepreneurship, and lays a foundation to build upon for validated businesses or business
ideas. In some cases, it may be useful for an entrepreneur with an established business to
receive Launch training to confirm certain fundamental principles, such as key customer
segments and unique value proposition, or to prepare for a new service or product launch.
Training for participants in the Growth business stage may be more flexible. Growth
assumes that an entrepreneur in this stage may or may not have employees and has a
business generating revenue, or is considered pre-revenue. The Program will require an
introduction or refresher to the Business Model Canvas to help the entrepreneur identify any
risks or assumptions that may need addressing. While a finite goal for participants in Growth
training is difficult to determine since all businesses grow at their own speed, entrepreneurs
should come out of training with a general and practical understanding of scaling,
streamlining, and expanding their business.
Launch and Growth training shall be conducted in small groups, or cohorts. The training
shall be through facilitated group discussion among the entrepreneurs with limited
lecture-formatted instruction. Guest speakers are encouraged to participate.
Partners should understand that while the number of participants is important, quality of
training and guidance is desired more. Over-populating cohorts is discouraged since it leads
to participants receiving less individualized attention and cannibalizes the potential
attendance of future cohorts. Additionally, Growth training should generally not be served to
participants who just completed Launch training.
5. Program Components
Cohorts. Cohort-based training provides multiple training modules to a small group of
prescreened participants in a facilitated discussion environment. In addition to providing
proficiency in the training topics, the cohorts should build camaraderie among participants.
Training is likely to occur over several weeks and usually at a particular set time of the week
for the participants. Launch and Growth training shall be conducted in cohorts. Veterans
Florida prefers that in-person cohort training be offered to participants; however, cohorts
may also be offered in hybrid, local virtual or statewide virtual formats (additional details are
provided in Section 6. Scope of Work).
Veterans Florida Entrepreneur Program
3
Partners are encouraged to include mentorship opportunities for participants during the
duration of the cohort from local business and community leaders, successful entrepreneurs,
and other professionals.
Workshops. Workshops provide topical general business training to groups of participants
of any size over the course of a couple of hours. Training in general business topics such as
legal structures, stakeholders, launching, marketing, franchising, acquisitions, and other
issues that business owners frequently face shall be conducted in workshops. Workshops
may also provide training for topics covered under the Launch and Growth cohort training,
but should not be conducted in a manner to replace cohort training. Specialized industry
based workshops are also encouraged, such as government contracting, food services, or
other, to address specific needs of local participants. Camaraderie building and networking
is encouraged during the workshop, but training is the primary purpose. Veterans Florida
prefers that workshops be offered to participants live and in-person and include a meeting
location for all attendees to meet and participate. However, Partners may offer virtual
workshops with participation via Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, or similar software.
Networking. Networking provides opportunities for expanding personal and professional
connections and building a sense of community to groups of participants of any size over the
course of a couple of hours. General business topics may be presented during networking,
but community building is the primary purpose of networking. Networking events shall be
open to any eligible participant, mentors, entrepreneurs, and community business leaders,
not exclusively those within cohorts.
6. Scope of Work
The Program is a comprehensive entrepreneurship program implemented across a network
of Florida-based partner entities throughout the state of Florida. Veterans Florida’s objective
is for participants to gain and optimize the skills and confidence to become successful
business owners or grow their business. The Program offers a pipeline for entrepreneurs to
take a business idea from conception through execution and scalability. The Program does
not guarantee participants that an idea will turn into a fully operational business. Program
participants can expect to understand the entrepreneurial process and put their newly
learned entrepreneurial skills to work. Responsibility for facilitating this Program is extended
to our Partners through this RFQ.
The Program fiscal year (FY) 2026-27 budget for awards as a result of this RFQ is
$700,000. Veterans Florida expects to negotiate agreements with a start date on or about
September 1, 2026 with all work performed and completed prior to June 30, 2027.
Additionally, Veterans Florida may seek and negotiate agreements for services directly with
potential Partners should any funds remain unallocated or Veterans Florida determines that
the needs of the veterans are not met based on the outcome of this RFQ.
Veterans Florida Entrepreneur Program
4
The specific FY 2026-27 Program services delivered by Partners will be determined by
Veterans Florida and guided by the needs of participants across the state, population
density of certain regions, and the volume of offerings and their distribution throughout
Florida’s various geographic regions (see map). Veterans Florida seeks to offer Launch and
Growth Cohorts in each region of the state, it may be limited to one per six-month semester
per region. Veterans Florida intends to select one or more Partners to provide statewide
virtual Launch and Growth cohorts. Veterans Florida seeks to offer two statewide virtual
Launch and Growth cohorts during FY 2026-27.
Prospective Partners may elect to include any service in this RFQ within their proposal.
Proposals should clearly identify the location in the state that opportunities are intended to
serve participants. Agreements will be customized based on the services provided by the
Partner. The anticipated scope of work for services sought by Veterans Florida is listed
below:
A. Launch Cohort
Number of Participants
Training Modules
Training Module length
Participants’ Business Stage
Offered
10 (minimum attendance) to 15 (maximum attendance)
11
not less than 2 and no more than 3 hours
Idea, Idea to Startup, Startup, post Startup (if necessary)
No more than two times a year, and no more than one
per six month semester
The Partner shall conduct a Launch Cohort with 10-15 participants with the modules 1-5
based upon Business Model Canvas, Lean Canvas, or similar derivation to test an
entrepreneur’s risks and assumptions about their idea or business. Modules 6-10 include
topics led by subject matter experts. Topics should include, but are not limited to, legal
structures, registering a business with the State, stakeholders, launching, marketing,
acquisitions and franchising, local resources (SBA, SBDC, VBOC, etc.), specialized industry
based topics or other issues that business owners frequently face. The final module should
provide participants an opportunity to practice pitching their Business Model to others in
attendance.
The goals for a participant in Launch training are to determine the validity or marketability of
their business idea or startup, understand and complete a Business Model Canvas (or
similar Canvas), and understand concepts related to getting a business started and going to
market with a product or service.
Veterans Florida Entrepreneur Program
5
This is the opportunity summary page. It provides an overview of this opportunity and a preview of the attached documentation.
