PEOPLE

Coburn Technologies, Inc., welcomed Ezequiel Lukin as national sales manager, diagnostic instruments. He is a former global sales manager for Volk Optical.

EYOTO appointed Kurt Gardner as vice president and general manager, North America. Gardner’s previous experience includes roles with FEA Industries and Indizen Optical Technologies of America.

Healthy Eyes Advantage, Inc., appointed James Kirchner, O.D., to the newly created position of executive consultant for state and professional relations. Dr. Kirchner was most recently president and CEO of SynergEyes, Inc.

Mark Phares has rejoined Smith as the new vice president of global sales. Phares previously spent 17 years within the Smith organization in various sales and management roles.

BUSINESS UPDATES

Kirk & Kirk has named MSK as its distributor in France.

PECAA launched the Integrated Eye Care Initiative, a program designed to help participating providers understand their role and opportunities as the industry transitions to the second phase of healthcare reform being driven by the 21st Century Cures Act.

Safilo Group announced a joint venture agreement in South Korea with Parma International to distribute the eyewear collections of many of Safilo’s brands.

Safilo Group has reached an agreement to sell the U.S. retail chain Solstice to Fairway, LLC, formed by a group of investors active in the U.S. and in the European eyewear retail business. The transaction is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2019.

AWARDS

Mykita received a Red Dot Award in Product Design for its Elgard optical style.

The New York State Optometric Association announced The Vision Council as the winner of its 2019 Communications Award for its contribution toward the visual welfare of the public via communications media.

Satisloh’s technical service team gathered for the 12th annual Service Summit, which included a celebration of its customer service award nominees: Nona Baitemal, Laura Castle, and Matt Wall.

Standard Optical celebrated 108 years in operation with an “Oscars-style” employee recognition event at The Leonardo Museum in Salt Lake City in April.

TRADE SHOWS

» SILMO Paris, scheduled for Sept. 27-30, gears up for an exciting show in the French capital. The 2019 edition of the world optical fair marks the 25th anniversary of the prestigious SILMO d’Or awards, celebrating the most innovative designs in optics. SILMO 2019 also kicks off its inaugural Hackathon, a collaborative event as international teams imagine the retail space of the future. silmoparis.com.

» On the heels of a highly successful Vision Expo East, Vision Expo West takes over the Sands Expo in Las Vegas Sept. 18-21. Be sure to follow Vision Expo on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter—as #VisionExpo boasts more than 31 million social impressions—for the latest updates on the show. west.visionexpo.com.