Latest News ABB Optical Group’s Angel Alvarez Named EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2016 Finalist in Florida By Staff Wednesday, May 25, 2016 12:21 AM Angel Alvarez. CORAL SPRINGS, Fla.—EY, a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services, announced that Angel Alvarez, founder and CEO of ABB Optical Group, is a finalist for the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2016 Award in Florida.The awards program, which is celebrating its 30th year, recognizes entrepreneurs who demonstrate excellence and extraordinary success in areas such as innovation, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities. As a leading distributor of optical products, ABB Optical Group supplies nearly two-thirds of eyecare professionals across the country with brand name contact lenses, custom specialty contact lenses, ophthalmic lenses, eyeglass fabrication and business-building tools. Alvarez founded ABB Optical in 1989 with three employees who worked out of a small room in the back of a warehouse. Today, the company employs more than 1,000 across four large facilities in California, New York, Massachusetts and Florida, where it is headquartered in Coral Springs. “Since the beginning, ABB has been committed to strengthening the eyecare industry," Alvarez said. "I am especially proud of our team, with whom I share this special honor and recognition. ABB employees are passionate, accountable and focused on customer service. Our customers and the local communities where we live and do business are most important to us.” Alvarez was selected as a finalist in the distribution and manufacturing category by a panel of independent judges. Award winners will be announced at a gala on June 9 at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts in Tampa.Regional award winners are eligible for consideration for the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year national program. Award winners in several national categories, as well as the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner, will be announced at the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year National Awards gala in Palm Springs, Calif. on Nov. 19.