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Tara Rosenzweig

PEOPLE

ODC's Laurie Badone ODC's Colleen Davis Corrado Moro of Area SRL

Laurie Badone has joined Optical Distribution Corporation (ODC), the exclusive U.S. distributor of Rodenstock lenses and frames, as director of marketing. She was most recently director of marketing for Seiko Optical Products of America, Inc. In addition, Badone is the vice president and president-elect of the Optical Women's Association. Also joining ODC is Colleen Davis, who has been appointed key account manager–West Region. She brings 20 years of progressive optical sales, training, and customer service experience to the position. Bausch & Lomb has named Joseph Barr to the newly created position of vice president, global clinical and medical affairs and professional services. Barr joined B&L in 2007 as vice president, global research and development, Vision Care. Italy's Area SRL has named Corrado Moro as its general manager. Moro most recently held a position as sales manager for Europe at Allison SpA, and prior to that as sales manager at Optiproject, and special projects manager at Bugatti Accessori. Logo of the Americas, which produces TAG Heuer Eyewear and Fred Lunettes Eyewear under license to its Premier Vision division, named Mark Shidlofsky as national sales manager of its new Adventure Vision Division.

AWARDS

HOYA Vision Care, North America, awarded a $6,000 scholarship to Andrew Graves, a student at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, College of Optometry. HOYA representatives announced the winner at the annual meeting of the American Optometric Association.

Brian Snydsman of the University of California-Berkeley School of Optometry won the Essilor-sponsored Varilux Optometry Super Bowl at this year's AOA meeting in Seattle.

Brian Snydsman, winner of the Varilux Optometry Super bowl, accepts his trophy

The vision care section of the American Public Health Association announced their 2008 award recipients. R. Norman Bailey, OD, MPH, a professor at the University of Houston, received the 2008 Distinguished Service Award; the Outstanding Scientific Paper Award went to Xinzhi Zhang, MD, PhD; Jinan B. Saadine, MD, MPH; Paul P. Lee, MD, JD; David C. Grabowski, PhD; Sanjat Kanjilal, MPH; Michael R. Duenas, OD, and M. Venkat, Narayan, MD, MSc.; and Lori A. Tai, OD and Lily Mac, OD, Southern California College of Optometry 2008 graduates, won the Outstanding Student Project Award.

ClearVision Optical was awarded the 2008 Regional Commuter Choice Innovator Award for its carpooling incentive program for employees.

BUSINESS UPDATES

The American Optometric Association (AOA) and Transitions Optical are teaming up to provide educational resources about the unique needs of the Hispanic population. The initiative aims to help optometrists understand and accommodate cultural differences and risk factors pertaining to Hispanic patients.

Reliable Optics was recently approved as a Kodak CleAR™ Anti-Reflective Coating laboratory. The laboratory has also become a distributor of Western Optical Supply, supplying tools, instruments, and display materials necessary for the everyday business needs of eyecare professionals.

Intercast Group announced the appointment of Sun Lens Technology (SLT) as an authorized distributor of the complete NXT® performance sunlens product line offering. SLT carries the full line of both plano and Rx NXT sunlens products.

Essilor, VSP® Vision Care, and Vision One Credit Union announced that Essilor will join the Vision Loans® program. Essilor and VSP Vision Care have collectively committed up to $20 million to this program, which provides financing for private-practice eye doctors to purchase their first practice, pay salaries for new associates, and fund partnership buy-ins or down payments.

The Vision Council announced the launch of a new software program designed to test laboratory machines for conformance with the widely accepted Data Communication Standard (DCS). The new simulator software is free to The Vision Council members.

Wisconsin Vision Associates (WVA) has simplified its online ordering process with clear navigation, order tracking, plus the ability to order nearly any lens at any time. The patient ordering site lets patients purchase their contacts as if they were buying directly from the ECP.

Eyemaginations, known mainly for its patient education solutions for eyecare professionals, has expanded its core business to focus on institutions of higher education. Eyemaginations' product portfolio includes 3D-Eye Office, 3D-Eye Home, 3D-Eye Online, 3D-Eye Draw, and others.

MILESTONE

Santinelli International is celebrating 35 years in business this year. Founded in 1937 by Joseph Santinelli as a one-man operation out of his home, the company now has 75 employees headquartered in central Long Island.

Gerard Santinelli (l) and Joseph Santinelli (r) at Santinelli's corporate headquarters