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DAC International
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Peter Brierley
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DAC International has
appointed Peter Brierley as president. Brierley
will take over from Rod Keller, who has served
as interim president following the retirement of
Jim Drain in 2010. Keller will resume his role
as vice president of engineering and operations.
Over the past 40 years, Brierley has held
leadership positions in lens manufacturing at
companies such as Bausch + Lomb, Dow Corning,
Allergan Optical and CooperVision.
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Shamir Insight
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Matt Lytle
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Shamir Insight announced that
Matt Lytle, vice president of marketing, has
been promoted to vice president sales and
marketing. He takes over as head of Shamir’s
sales force from Lance Bergeron, who is retiring
from the company after a 40-year optical
industry career. Lytle joined Shamir in 2006 as
the vice president of marketing. Bergeron joined
Shamir in 2007 as the vice president of sales
and was recently promoted to senior vice
president in October 2010.
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Rodenstock
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Oliver Kastalio
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The Rodenstock Group
announced that it is restructuring its
organization in order to increase its
effectiveness and competitiveness. CEO Oliver
Kastalio will take over direct responsibility
for all sales and marketing organizations to
ensure that they are focused on being close to
their markets and customers. The position of
chief sales officer, held by Marc-Oliver
Schneider, is being eliminated, and Schneider is
leaving the Rodenstock Group by mutual consent.
The human resources department will also be
placed under the control of the CEO.
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REM Eyewear
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Johnny Craig
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REM Eyewear has named
Johnny
Craig its Director of Global Services. Craig
will manage the relationships and operations
planning for global business partners for all
channels of distribution. Craig will partner
with country managers and key account
representatives to develop and grow sales with
current accounts and identify new potential
markets. Additionally, he will be the chief
liaison for sales and distribution through REM
affiliates.
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Costa
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Brad Abbott
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Costa sunglasses recently
promoted Brad Abbott, former national sales
manager for the western United States, to his
new position as vice president of the company’s
expanding Rx sun lens division. As a vice
president, Abbott will be responsible for
overseeing Costa’s Rx sun lens division. Prior
to joining Costa, Abbott worked in sales for
various companies including Hydrogel Vision and
Bausch + Lomb.
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Coburn Technologies
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Coburn Technologies, formerly
Gerber Coburn, is introducing a new management
team.
Curt Brey is now the vice
president of marketing and business development,
Michael Dolen is vice president of human
resources, Tom Smith is vice president of
finance, Steve Bedford is executive director of
engineering, Nick Coppola is executive director
of service, Dan Hobbs is executive director of
operations, and Ram Narayanan is executive
director of sales, Asia, Middle East, and
Africa.
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ABB CONCISE
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Robert Mandell
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Robert B.
Mandell, OD, PhD,
retired in January after a 37-year career as a
consultant to ABB CONCISE. Mandell retired from
his 32-year career as a member of the University
of California, Berkeley faculty in 1998, but
continued to work on research and development by
providing consultative services to ABB CONCISE.
At one time or another, he taught over half of
the courses in the Berkeley Optometry program
curriculum.
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Co/Op Optical
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Benjamin L. Edwards, Jr., was
recently named president and chief executive
officer of the Co/Op Optical chain. Edwards has
spent more than 25 years at Co/op Optical,
starting as an apprentice optician in the
laboratory and proceeding to fill multiple
management roles including director and
executive vice president. He was named interim
president, CEO and chief operating officer last
July, following the resignation of long-time
president Jackee Smith. In his new role, Edwards
oversees the operations of the company including
Co/op vision insurance plans, 11 retail stores
and an optical laboratory.
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Briot USA
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Briot USA has announced the
appointment of Andrew Bumerts and Robert Wallner
as Regional Sales Managers and Dan Lombardo as
Regional Manager of Service Technicians. Bumerts
is an optical industry veteran with over 30
years of experience. Wallner will be responsible
for driving sales efforts in the eastern region
of the U.S. He joined Briot in 2008 as the
Northeast Territory Sales Rep. As Regional
Manager of Service Technicians, Lombardo will
lead the U.S. service group consisting of all
field technicians as well as the call center in
the Cumming office.
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Will be Missed…
Wendy Schneider of OptiSource
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Wendy Schneider
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Services were held in Port
Jefferson Station, NY last month for Wendy
Schneider of New York-based OptiSource
International, who passed away on Jan. 28 at age
of 37. She had been battling leukemia since
June, 2009. Schneider, who lived in Mt. Sinai,
N.Y., was an integral part of OptiSource for the
past 16 years, according to OptiSource vice
president Daryl Squicciarini.
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“Her role as a senior sales
representative was defined by the incredible
relationships she developed with her beloved
customers. The only thing grander than Wendy’s
boisterous laugh and radiant smile was the level
of service, caring and giving to her customers,
friends and co-workers. Her laugh will forever
echo throughout OptiSource and her spirit will
continue to touch our hearts with everlasting
love and kindness.”
Donations may be made to the
Leukemia-Lymphoma Society: www.leukemia-lymphoma.org.
REM Eyewear’s Kara Meyer
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Kara Casey Meyer
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Services were held last month
in Coppell, Texas for Kara Casey Meyer, 45, REM
Eyewear’s vice president of corporate
accounts, who died unexpectedly on Feb. 16.
Meyer, a long-time eyewear
executive, was highly regarded within the
industry. She joined Nouveau Eyewear as
marketing director in 1994, eventually becoming
vice president of marketing and working with key
retail accounts. She joined REM in 2002, as vice
president of corporate accounts.
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Mike Hundert, REM's CEO,
said, "Many of us had the privilege to know
Kara very well, to call her our friend. She
touched us like no other, guiding us and
encouraging us with a steady hand and a
Texas-size illuminating smile. We will always
admire and be encouraged by her wisdom and
determination, her intuition and integrity. Kara
was passionate about making everyone happy.”
REM Eyewear is setting up a
special section of its website with updated
information at www.remeyewear.com/kara. The
company is also preparing to celebrate Meyer
with a gathering of friends on Thursday, March
17 in New York City, on the eve of Vision Expo
East, from 5:00 p.m. to
7:00 p.m.
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