Jim Eisen, president and CEO,
HVHC Inc.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas—HVHC’s Visionworks has been ranked number 150 on this month’s Forbes’ “Best Employers” list, among 500 companies among a range of industries and institutions, and was also ranked number 14 on the related “Best Employers in Texas” report.

The news came as Visionworks continues its nationwide expansion plan with the opening of its first location in Seattle, Wash. late last week. Jim Eisen, president and CEO of HVHC Inc. and Visionworks’ president, told VMail that Visionworks’ first Seattle-area location in Renton, Wash. brings Visionworks’ national units to 704. The opening is related, he noted, to the recent announcement of Visionworks’ sister company, Davis Vision’s, announcement of becoming Boeing’s vision benefit provider as of Jan. 1, 2016. “This is an exciting time for our company as we build on our existing alliance with the world’s largest aerospace company,” he stated, “We’re proud to expand into the Seattle marketplace and provide Boeing employees, as well as the general public, with easily accessible eye care minutes from Boeing’s Renton campus.”

Visionworks, Eisen said, expects to open another 8 to 10 locations in the greater Seattle market. The chain already operates in the Pacific Northwest, including stores in Spokane and Vancouver, Wash. and 11 stores in Oregon.

The company opened 56 stores throughout 2015, and Eisen said that the group, which now operates under the single Visionworks brand, anticipates opening an additional 60 stores in 2016. “Those are likely to be ‘fill in’ openings, with more expansion in Detroit and Michigan state as well as additional stores in the boroughs of New York City,” Eisen added.



The Forbes ranking of “Best Employers” was based on the results of independent survey conducted among 30,000 American employees working at large companies and institutions (headcount of 5,000 or more). Employees were contacted anonymously online without the involvement of their employer. Respondents included in this sample are representative of the U.S. workforce by gender, age, region, education, and ethnicity. The key question of the survey was “Would you recommend your place of employment to your friends as a place to work”?

Eisen told VMail, “This Forbes’ honor is a testament to our entire organization and its culture.” He told HVHC employees, “While Visionworks is the national retail name, let me be clear. This recognition is a result of our matrix organization and integrated model…All of this is supported by our shared services teams, such as finance, human resources, information technology, professional services, and more – along with our Latham Service Center.”