DECEMBER 6, 2023

GOVX PARTNERS WITH BORN PRIMITIVE AND STIPE MIOCIC TO RAISE OVER $12,500 FOR FOLDS OF HONOR, THE MILITARY AND FIRST RESPONDER NON-PROFIT

GOVX, the online shopping platform exclusively for current and former military, first responders, emergency medical professionals, and other government personnel, partnered with the athletic apparel brand Born Primitive and MMA champion and Ohio firefighter Stipe Miocic to generate donation-based funds on behalf of the military and first responder non-profit, Folds of Honor. 

 

Earning a total of $12,682 in donations, the fundraising efforts gave one GOVX member a chance to win a grand prize two-ticket package to the MMA championship fight on Veterans Day in New York City, plus a meet and greet with Miocic, with five runners-up receiving signed merchandise from the former UFC champion. 

"Through this awesome sweepstakes, GOVX continues to make an incredible impact in the lives of the families we serve."

- Col. Nick Nichols,

President of Folds of Honor

“Through this awesome sweepstakes, GOVX continues to make an incredible impact in the lives of the families we serve,” said Col. Nick Nichols, President of Folds of Honor. “Every donation Folds of Honor received through this activation serves as a reminder to these families that they are not forgotten. We are truly grateful.” 

 

The contest, which was open from September 15th to October 11th, 2023 awarded GOVX members the opportunity to earn entries through $20, $40, $50, and $100 donations made directly to Folds of Honor, the foundation dedicated to providing educational scholarships to the children of fallen or disabled US military servicemembers and first responders. 

A current Rhode Island Law Enforcement Officer/Marine Veteran and GOVX member was named the grand prize winner after a random drawing on October 12th, and he received two tickets, hotel and travel accommodations for two to New York City, plus $200 in VISA gift cards. 

 

“MMA fighters train year-round for their chance to take home the belt,” said Alan Cole, GOVX CEO. “That kind of warrior’s spirit is something we also see in those who serve our communities and country. It’s a privilege to partner with Born Primitive and Stipe Miocic to recognize a GOVX member and raise donations for Folds of Honor.” 

 

Held at Madison Square Garden on November 11th, 2023, UFC 295 saw Alex Pereira defeat Jiří Procházka for the Lightweight Heavyweight Championship and Tom Aspinall triumph over Sergei Pavlovich in the co-main event.  

 

ABOUT GOVX 

GOVX was founded in 2011 with a mission to serve those who serve our country and communities – military service members, first responders, law enforcement officers, emergency medical professionals, educators, and other government service personnel. With a customizable suite of solutions, GOVX provides leading brands who share in our mission with a unique opportunity to support this deserving audience. Through our flagship ecommerce site, GOVX.com, brands can authentically reach a growing community of 7.5M+ members with their own storefront. More than 1K trusted brands currently have a storefront on GOVX.com, offering unbeatable deals to those who serve. With our verification app, GOVX ID, brands can easily enable service member discounts within the checkout flow of their own sites. More than 3K brands currently utilize our GOVX ID technology to honor service members. By leveraging GOVX marketing services solutions, brands can effectively amplify their products or services within our engaged and exclusive community and reinforce their support amongst Americans who make a difference. In addition to providing unmatched value to those who serve, GOVX also donates a portion of every single order to non-profits who serve the military and first responder community. To-date we have donated more than $1M through our GOVX Gives Back initiative. For more information, visit https://www.govx.com.

 

ABOUT FOLDS OF HONOR

Folds of Honor is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization that provides educational scholarships to the spouses and children of military members who have fallen or been disabled while serving in the United States armed forces. Beginning in 2022, Folds of Honor expanded its mission to include first responders. Its educational scholarships support private-school tuition or tutoring in grades K-12 as well as post-secondary tuition. It is rated a four-star charity by Charity Navigator and Platinum on GuideStar. It was founded by Lt Col Dan Rooney, an F-16 fighter pilot, who is currently stationed at Headquarters Air Force Recruiting Service Detachment 1, at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, TX.

 

ABOUT BORN PRIMITIVE 

Veteran-owned and operated, Born Primitive apparel is made for athletes of all sizes and skill levels and is designed to perform in those critical moments of mental and physical distress when the battle is won—or lost. Their apparel is developed and tested by athletes to ensure it has only the highest quality, comfort, and functionality. To learn more, visit https://bornprimitive.com/.

ABOUT STIPE MIOCIC

Widely considered the greatest heavyweight in MMA history, Stipe Miocic is a two-time UFC champion and one of the best pound-for-pound fighters of any era.  He holds the records for most wins in heavyweight title fights alongside the longest title defending streak in the division with four consecutive defenses. On top of his MMA career, Miocic serves his community as a full-time firefighter paramedic for the Westlake (OH) Fire Department. 

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CHRIS BOHNERT - CPO

Chris joined GOVX in 2015, bringing more than 15 years of product, marketing and general management experience in the consumer internet space. As head of Product at GOVX, Chris leads product management, design and business intelligence for the entire product portfolio.


Chris began his career at Active Network in 2002 and helped grow the company from start-up to a successful IPO in 2011. During his time at Active Network, Chris managed several teams and product-lines, including the flagship media property, Active.com and the eCommerce division.


In 2012, Chris joined Takelessons, an online education marketplace matching students with qualified teachers. As VP of Product and Technology, he led a cross-functional team, including engineering, product management and design.


Chris earned a BA from the University of Arizona and an MBA from San Diego State University.

ADAM HOMZE - VP ENGINEERING

Adam joined GOVX in 2014 as the Vice President of Software Development and is responsible for leading the software development group, how our applications are built, and scaling the GOVX tech stack.


Since 2005, Adam has actively participated in the growth phase of several startups; holding multiple technical and leadership positions. Over that time, he has developed a wide range of skills to tackle the challenges inherent in building technology companies.


Adam earned a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of California, San Diego.

AARON PELANDER - VP MARKETING

Aaron leads the marketing team at GOVX, and is responsible for communicating the value of GOVX to military, first responders and government employees nationwide. He works closely with all areas of the GOVX business, including the Creative, Merchandising and Product teams, to ensure that the GOVX member experience is world class.


Before joining GOVX, Aaron held senior marketing and management roles at Provide Commerce and the Active Network. He earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Arizona and his MBA from San Diego State University.

AMBER MILLER - CRO

Amber joined GOVX in early 2014 to head up marketing and member acquisition. She has been leading the Ecommerce efforts since 2016 focusing on the 2 most important customers at GOVX: our deserving members and the brands that provide outstanding products to members.


Prior to GOVX, Amber worked at Active Network for close to 10 years developing a business unit responsible for selling and fulfilling advertising for some of the world’s top endurance events.


Amber holds an MBA from University of San Diego and a B.A from University of California, San Diego.

JOEL PASION - CCO

As Chief Creative Officer, Joel oversees all branding, web, print and other design requirements of the Company. Prior to joining GOVX, he served as Chief Creative Officer for AnyArt, Inc., which operates the AnyArt e-commerce website. Before that, he served as Creative Director for ClosingCorp, a real estate data provider serving large banks and real estate companies. Prior to ClosingCorp, Joel was the Creative Director for Epic Cycle Interactive, a San Diego web and design agency working with major league sports teams.


Before relocating to San Diego, Joel taught web, multimedia and technology courses at the University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He earned a B.A. in Biology from St. John’s University.

ROB MORRISON - CTO

Rob serves as CTO for GOVX and oversees all software development associated with the GOVX.com Web site as well as integrations with Vendor-Partner ERP/ecommerce platforms.


Prior to joining GOVX, Rob was a Partner with Kore Technologies, where he architected and developed the company’s ecommerce web platform used by large institutions to facilitate transactions through integrations with large enterprise systems.


Prior to joining Kore Technologies, Rob was a technical lead with Intuit, which owns Quicken, QuickBooks and other financial and accounting software applications.


Prior to his work at Intuit, Rob was Manager of Advanced Product Development for Epicor where he managed a large-scale Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system designed for Microsoft BackOffice.


Rob received a B.S. in Computer Sciences from East Carolina University.

CAROL SCHNUGG - CFO

Carol serves as Chief Financial Officer for GOVX and oversees all financial, accounting and administrative matters for the Company as well as negotiating and administrating Brand-Partners’ wholesale pricing. Prior to joining GOVX, she served as Controller for Billabong’s Sector 9 company, where she oversaw its acquisition by Billabong and was recruited to oversee all financial and accounting matters along with managing its e-commerce site.


Carol previously owned and operated her own accounting and tax practice and was an accountant with Deloitte & Touche.


Carol received a B.S. in finance from San Diego State University and is a Certified Public Accountant.

ALAN COLE - CEO/PRESIDENT

Alan began his career as co-founder and President of DELTYME Corporation, a San Diego-based web services firm working with national clients including Target, Cisco Systems, Costco and Garden Fresh.


After stepping away from an operating role at DELTYME, Alan attended business school at the University of Texas with a focus on entrepreneurial management. During his time in Austin he took on due diligence responsibilities at Gefinor Ventures (an early stage venture firm) and worked in marketing and business development roles in several Austin-area startups including Convio and Metreos.


Alan ultimately moved back to San Diego to join Active Network, where he held executive responsibility for the company's $50M Media + Marketing division. After six years with Active Network, Alan moved on to serve as COO of TakeLessons, an online education marketplace connecting students with qualified teachers. In late 2016, Alan joined GOVX as CEO.

Alan holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from Santa Clara University and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin.