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Alicia Hoglund

PEOPLE
	Valerio Giacobbi has been named general manager of sales, marketing, and business strategies for Marcolin S.p.A. Giacobbi brings 20 years of experience, including executive director of business development, executive vice president of retail for North America, and general affairs manager posts at Luxottica Group.
James Kirchner, OD, SynergEyes, Inc.	SynergEyes, Inc., has announced the promotion of James Kirchner, OD, to the position of senior vice president of clinical and professional services. In his new role, Kirchner will provide professional leadership of product development and management.
Brian White, CPA, QSpex Technologies	Brian White, CPA, has joined QSpex Technologies, Inc.’s senior management team as chief financial officer.White has 20 years of experience, both domestic and international, throughout diverse industries including retail, manufacturing, logistics, and banking.
Damian May, PharmD, MBA (top), and Dick Wallingford, OD, FAAO, Vistakon	Vistakon Division of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc., has appointed Damian May, PharmD, MBA, to senior director, strategy and professional development, of Vistakon’s newly created Professional Development Group. In addition, Dick Wallingford, OD, FAAO, has been named senior director, professional affairs.

AWARDS

Essilor of America announced the winners of its Independent Distribution Division (IDD) Annual Laboratory Awards, which recognize independent distributors who have achieved top sales and marketing performance in specific Essilor product categories. Winners include Essilor IDD Lab of theYear, Cherry Optical, Green Bay,WI; Essilor IDD Managed Care Lab of the Year, Davis Vision, San Antonio, TX; VARILUX Award of Excellence, Team Effort, Oklahoma City, OK; CRIZAL Award of Excellence, Walman Optical, Minneapolis, and Soderberg Optical, Minneapolis; Essilor TRANSITIONS Award of Excellence, Prodigy Optical, Richmond, MN; and XPERIO Award of Excellence, MH Optical, South Hackensack, NJ.

Clear Vision Optical recently announced Carla Solvey of North Canton Vision Center as the winner of its Cookie Cutter contest, which was the company’s most successful social media contest to date. Second runners up include Suchi Matalia of Captree Opticians in Babylon, NY, and Stacy Flynn of Total Vision in DeLand, FL. Third runners up include Heather Fairchild of Drs Eyecare Family Vision in Columbia, SC, and Queen Creek Eye Care in Queen Creek, AZ.

North Canton Vision Center’s Carla Solvey was dubbed the winner of ClearVision Optical’s Cookie Cutter contest and was awarded a BCBGMAXAZRIA handbag for her winning submission

The Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation has awarded the Gavin Herbert Eye Institute, part of University of California, Irvine Healthcare, $3 million for retinal degeneration research.

GOOD DEEDS

Essilor Vision Foundation recently participated in the Special Olympics Global Development Summit on Ending the Cycle of Poverty and Exclusion for People with Intellectual Disabilities in PyeongChang, Republic of Korea. The Summit, which takes place as part of the Special Olympics World Winter Games, is the first of its kind focusing solely on people with intellectual disabilities.

To date, more than 6,000 residents in NewYork and New Jersey affected by Superstorm Sandy have received free eye exams and, if necessary, glasses, through continued relief efforts committed by VSP Vision Care.

Match Eyewear recently opened a new headquarters in Westbury, NY

BUSINESS UPDATES

The Opticians Association of America has announced its supporting partnership with Optometry Giving Sight for its Vision of Hope initiative. As part of the partnership, OAA opticians will participate in sustainable vision care projects and share their knowledge and skills with people in underserved communities. They will also be asked to participate in the World Sight Day Challenge each October to raise funds for Optometry Giving Sight.

The Vision Source Ambulatory Surgical Center has opened at the University of Houston School of Optometry. It is the first surgery center in the U.S. to be housed and affiliated with a college of optometry.

PFO Global has opened a new European office location in Lucerne, Switzerland, to promote the distribution of SmartEyewear, PFO’s finished eyewear program, the SmartEyePix digital dispensing system, and other PFO Technologies currently under development.

Santinelli International, an independent, family-owned and managed lens finishing equipment company, celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. The company has plans to celebrate the milestone at varying times throughout the year with special associate and client events.

Match Eyewear has relocated its corporate headquarters to a larger, newly renovated facility in Westbury, NY. The company’s new address is 1600 Shames Drive, Westbury, NY 11590.

Coburn Technologies has established a new group within the company, Coburn Lab Works, tasked specifically with the support of independent optical laboratories including the development of new products, product/process support, and ensuring the highest level of value on a lab-by-lab basis.

Bausch + Lomb has completed its acquisition of ophthalmology laser company Technolas Perfect Vision GmbH. The new entity, based in Munich, Germany, will be known as Bausch + Lomb Technolas.

Optometry Giving Sight’s Pamela Capaldi with Diane Charles, foundation chair, Vision of Hope, Opticians Association of America, at the signing of the partnership agreement

Santinelli International opened its doors in this modest home office back in 1973

(l to r) University of Houston School of Optometry’s Dean Earl L. Smith III, OD, PhD, Drs. Hans Kell, Moes Nasser, Wes Pittman, John McCall, Carey Patrick, Jeff Jones, and Derrick Artis with Vision Source CEO and founder Dr. Glenn Ellisor at the Vision Source Ambulatory Surgical Center dedication

WORD SEARCH answers

Below, the answers to the Elements of Progressive Lenses word search by Jenean Carlton, ABOC, NCLC.