After successfully launching the Invest In Veterans Week National Holiday, mobile app, and progressive web application, the award-winning development company Tech From Vets set out on a mission to utilize multimedia to highlight veterans and active duty service members that are positively impacting their communities. Invest In Veterans Week (a brand of Tech From Vets) turned to Army veteran Mike Bicek to lead the creative vision and direction of the newly launched Invest In Veterans Week media division. In early July of 2019, the Registrar at the National Day Calendar proclaimed National Invest In Veterans Week to be observed March 1-7, annually. The objective of the IVW national holiday is to empower the public to invest in the veteran population through veteran-owned business sustainment, educational development, and mental health empowerment.
“We are excited to have Mike take over as Creative Director of National Invest In Veterans Week,” said National Football League veteran and Director of Strategic Partnerships Drayton Florence. “Mike has worked with our Vets 22 and Tech From Vets brands in the past and has helped increase our reach nationally.” Bicek brings a wealth of experience as a celebrity photographer and brand ambassador. Having served in the United States Army with a deployment to Iraq under his belt, Bicek’s mission-focused character is a precise fit for the innovation-driven award-winning technology company.
“His experience in the field, and having his work highlighted in Black Enterprise Magazine and the National Day Calendar, among other global publications, shows Mike’s superb quality of work. We look forward to working with him to help refine the creative vision behind National Invest In Veterans Week,” stated Lieutenant Colonel Rickey L. Pope, USA, Retired, who serves as the organization’s Public Affairs Officer.
“I am truly honored and excited to have the opportunity to join the Invest In Veterans Week team as the creative director,” Bicek said. “I’m looking forward to developing new multimedia ideas for branding, advertising campaigns, and marketing messages.” With Bicek leading the creative department, the organization plans to launch a local veteran business-focused Television program and multimedia campaign. The organization recently launched its signature Invest In Veterans Week podcast to iHeart Radio and Google Podcasts among other global platforms. With the increase in veterans and active duty service members starting new businesses, Bicek and his team have many local companies eager to be highlighted throughout Northeast Florida. According to the Small Business Administration, small business firms owned by veterans employed 5.03 million people, had an annual payroll of $195 billion and receipts of $1.14 trillion. Representing only 9.1 percent of all U.S. businesses, veterans have an unquestionable invaluable impact on economic ecosystems nationwide.
Soon after Tech From Vets was founded, it was named The Best Veteran Owned Tech Startup of 2016 by The Huffington Post. Soon after, the veteran-owned technology company won a BizTech Award for their successful design, development, and deployment of their self-funded Vets 22 and Tackling Food Safety applications to the national stage. The Jacksonville Business Journal’s BizTech Award honors those contributing to a culture of technology leadership and innovation in the Northeast Florida region.