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NEW YORK—VM’s Top Labs often make news and this year has been no exception. Here’s a chronology of the acquisitions, expansions, improvements and other newsworthy activities undertaken by some of the Top Labs in recent months.

November, 2013
Luzerne Optical Laboratories released CrownView, the first premium glass progressive and single vision free-form lenses available in the U.S. Other Top Labs, notably FEA Industries and Vision Dynamics, have also invested in technology to process glass lenses, which are re-emerging in the U.S. as a premium specialty product.

January, 2014
VSP Vision Care announced that it planned to relocate and expand VSPOne Sacramento, its flagship prescription laboratory, from its current location in Rancho Cordova, Calif. to nearby Folsom. The new facility, which is expected to be operational by November, 2014, will occupy nearly 80,000-square-feet and will include close to 650 union jobs at full capacity, according to the Sacramento Area Commerce and Trade Organization (SACTO). The facility will have an economic impact of more than $70 million in output (market value of goods and services produced), and further expands VSP’s global and regional footprint, bringing the VSP Global companies overall regional employment count to nearly 2,500, according to SACTO.

Essilor International acquired majority stakes in two prescription laboratories— R.D. Cherry in Michigan and Plunkett Optical in Arkansas—that generate revenue of $9.8 million and $3.3 million, respectively. Essilor said the moves are part of its continuing strategy of forging local partnerships.

Hoya Mississippi Laboratory Staff (l to r), Pamela Lumpkin, Chad Gillis, Mike Leach, Kim Leach Vaughan, Kenneth Picott.
(L to R) Carl Zeiss Vision CEO Uli Krauss with Dr. Greg Schober, Sandra Sabo, Romy Adams and Dr. Mauri Bauer of Macadam Vision Clinic in Portland, Ore.
Three Rivers Optical president Steve Seibert holds the lab’s Unity Independent Lab of the Year award, surrounded by Three Rivers employees and VSP executives.
February, 2014
Hoya Vision Care expanded its prescription laboratory network with the opening of a new lab in Tempe, Arizona, near Phoenix. “The Phoenix market is big and getting bigger,” Carson Utech, area sales director for Hoya Vision Care, told VM.“We need to have a local presence and the opportunity to service independent ECPs here is going to be exciting.”

March, 2014
Hoya Vision Care further expanded its network of prescription labs by opening a new lens processing facility near Jackson, Miss. “The opportunity to locally service independent ECPs in another market is exciting for us. The Jackson area is growing and we want to grow with it,” said Michael Dougher, chief operating officer for Hoya Vision Care.

VSP Optics Group opened a new VSPOne Optical Technology Center in Baltimore, Md. The new location enables faster local service for the region’s dense population of federal employees and annuitants who have vision benefits through VSP Vision Care, according to VSP Optics Group.

April, 2014
ECPs from throughout the western U.S. visited the Carl Zeiss Vision—Northwest lab in Portland, Ore. to celebrate the completion of Zeiss’s two-year, $4 million upgrade of the facility. The extensive renovation of one of Zeiss’s flagship labs included state-of-the-art free-form surfacing and coating equipment, a rearrangement of the production floor to improve workflow, and a redesign of office space. All lens jobs are now surfaced using free-form generators, and overall lab capacity has been more than doubled. The lab is staffed by 160 employees working three shifts Monday through Friday, supported by 10 dedicated customer service representatives. The lab is now capable of fabricating well over a million lenses per year.

July, 2014
US Optical installed a 1200-DLX AR coater and a VFT-Orbit lens generator, both manufactured by Satisloh. The new AR coater will add an additional 750 Crizal AR and digital AR jobs capacity per day, while the VFT-Orbit lens generator will produce an additional 350 digital surfaced jobs per day, according to US Optical.

The Syracuse, N.Y.-based lab also launched several new lens products including:

The US Optical Personal Computer-HD (PC-HD), a new personal computer lens designed for patients requiring extra vision while working at a desk or computer. The lens comes in three modes: more reading, more desk work or more computer work. The US Optical Blu Tech lens series: A new, impact-resistant lens from Eye Solutions Technology that protects against damage from UV radiation and high energy blue light emitted by computers, digital devices, iPhones and iPads. It is now available in US Optical’s branded products: The Single Vision HD, the Ultimate HD, the Wrap HD, The Advanced HD and the PC-HD. Shamir Duo, a Freeform bifocal that eliminates the segment line and is available from US Optical in 24 hours. Two new anti-reflective coatings from Essilor Lens of America: Crizal Optifog for fog-free vision and Crizal Prevencia, an AR coating that protects against harmful blue light and UV. Carl Zeiss’ new anti-reflective coatings Allure Plus and Purecoat PLUS which have an ultra extra tough hard coat that offers 50 percent more scratch resistance while delivering crisper vision.

August, 2014
Three Rivers Optical was named “Unity Independent Lab of the Year” by VSP Optics Group. The award is part of a new program that recognizes the outstanding contribution of independently owned optical laboratories that sell VSP’s fast growing Unity Performance Optics lens brand. To win the award, labs must demonstrate an exceptional quality of work that consistently exceeds Unity claim targets and provide superior customer service.