Dr. Eric Botts, OD.
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PETALUMA, Calif.—The Energeyes Association, an educational and support organization for corporate affiliated optometrists, marked its third anniversary yesterday. The Petaluma-based group has reason to celebrate, given its rapid growth. It currently claims over 650 members, stable finances, a robust training and educational offering and a buying group.

The association, which is a not-for-profit organization, has a volunteer board of directors, and is supported by a mix of vendor support and member dues. Its members practice at a major corporate-affiliated retailers such as WalMart, Sam’s Club, LensCrafters, Target, Sears and MyEyeDr.

“I am proud of the progress we’ve made in such short order and yet, I feel that we have not started,” remarked Eric Botts, OD, president and founding member of Energeyes. “I recognize that we are now reaching and positively influencing hundreds of practices in 45 states, but I also see our organization at the start of the next phase of our development. You can expect to see more sophisticated programming, better coordination with the retailers and vendors and our continued effort to increase medical services for the practices we serve.”

In 2016, Energeyes launched a new training model which includes COPE-approved education as well as vendor-involved training, aggressive account management, monthly support group meetings, vendor discounts and marketing materials. The model’s first application has been with dry eye with now over 20 new practices underway.

“You will see our education model next applied to multi-location training,” said Michael Pote, executive director. “We believe we can support the growth of our member practices by teaching and supporting a multi-location strategy. Additionally, we believe we will simultaneously solve the growing problem of recruitment and retention in corporate optometry.”

The Energeyes Association kicks off its third annual national meeting in Southlake, Texas on Sept. 23, and will be a partner of SECO in early 2017.