Marcolin and TBL Licensing LLC announce they have extended their licensing agreement for the design, production and worldwide distribution of Timberland® optical frames and sunglasses.
The partnership, originally signed in 2003, has now been early renewed for a further five years until December 2026.
Marcolin embraces the values of the brand, creating eyewear collections that respect its heritage. The range includes responsible styles made by using bio-based materials for a reduced environmental impact. Most of the sunglasses and optical frames contain at least 35% to a maximum of 80% bio-based content and have earned the coveted Earthkeepers™ designation.
Earthkeepers™, started as a collection in 2007, has evolved into an overarching philosophy that serves as a pathfinder for the Timberland® brand, from its commitment to protect and restore the outdoors, to improve social conditions globally, and find ways to make products more responsibly.
As a signal of their long-lasting partnership, Marcolin and Timberland are also teaming up with the web platform Treedom for the planting of trees and forests worldwide. Within this global initiative, Marcolin has committed to plant over 10,000 trees by 2023, in alignment with Timberland’s longstanding tree planting efforts, with 12,000+ planted to date, and counting.
FYidoctors launchs its Future Vision Leaders program, a one-of-a-kind initiative designed to help new and recent optometry graduates with up to $100,000 in forgivable loans. This unique program aims to partner the next generation of optometrists with patients and regions across Canada that are in marked need of professional eye care expertise, apart from giving new optometrists a career boost unlike no other.
“FYidoctors was founded on doctors defining what eye care looks like—both now and in the future,” says company Chair and CEO Dr. Alan Ulsifer. “This includes the vision to bring the highest level of eye care to all regions of Canada, with special appreciation and presence in rural and under-serviced areas. Eye care and vision is too important to the quality of one’s life to be limited in availability. We are excited about the Future Vision Leaders program to help us fill these important public needs while giving the next generation of optometrists rewarding opportunities.”
As part of the program, FYidoctors will assess applicants on an ad hoc basis and offer them 100% forgivable loans of up to $100,000 for new graduates as well as those who have graduated within the last several years. Successful applicants who enter the program will then be partnered with clinics in either urban, rural or remote regions, with the aim of bolstering the future of the industry while giving Canadians in those regions better all-around access to eye care.
Apart from the Future Vision Leaders loan, graduates who enter the program will also receive competitive base rate compensation, optical benefits and access to world-class innovation, leadership and development opportunities. Additionally, individuals could be eligible for guaranteed minimum pay and moving expenses.
“I was a young optometrist when we founded FYidoctors in 2008,” says Dr. Michael Naugle, FYidoctors’ Vice President, Optometric Partnerships, “and I have benefitted from our OD-owned and controlled model that allows us to practice to the highest level of care due to our emphasis on technology and advanced eye care. As the largest collegial ownership model, we are always looking for the best optometric talent. This one-of-a-kind program helps serve our collective goals in a way that everyone—especially the health care industry—wins. We are excited for its launch and to congratulate our first cohort of Future Vision Leaders.”
Cornell Capital LLC, a private equity firm based in New York and Hong Kong, announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Advancing Eyecare, a leading, North America-based provider of ophthalmic instruments to independent eyecare practitioners, national chains, hospitals, teaching institutions and others, from Atlantic Street Capital.
Advancing Eyecare is headquartered in Jacksonville, FL, and comprised of market-leading brands in eyecare instrumentation, including Lobart Instrument, Marco Ophthalmic, Innova Medical, and S4Optik.
Atlantic Street Capital, formed Advancing Eyecare Holdings with the partnership of its portfolio companies Lombart Instrument (Lombart), and Marco Ophthalmic Inc (Marco) in 2019. At the time of formation, INNOVA had already been part of the Advancing Eyecare group.
INNOVA Medical Ophthalmics has been supplying the Canadian ophthalmic community with a comprehensive line of diagnostic instruments, supplies, and support through factory-trained technicians and customer service representatives for over 30 years. They have facilities in Toronto and the Montreal area.
INNOVA represents several well-known brands in the Canadian equipment and diagnostic equipment markets, including Nidek, REICHERT, HAAG-STREIT and others.
In a statement issued today, Cornell Capital said it has “extensive experience partnering with strong management teams to drive growth, scale infrastructure and capitalize on opportunities across new markets. The firm said it intends to work closely with Advancing Eyecare’s current management team, led by chief executive officer Brad Staley, chief financial officer David Clay and chief strategy officer David Spear, to execute on “a shared vision and build on the significant momentum and investments the company has made in fostering a culture of authenticity, accountability, transparency and winning.”
Commenting on the acquisition, Stephen Trevor, partner at Cornell Capital, remarked, “AEC’s broad portfolio of innovative products and world class service and tech support have positioned the company as a leader in the attractive multibillion dollar ophthalmic products and services market. As the demand for eyecare continues to drive market growth and the industry continues to transition toward more advanced technologies and digital capabilities, AEC is uniquely well suited to meet comprehensive customer needs as an end-to-end service provider.
OptikConEd and The Practical Professor (Tom Weissberger RO) are pleased to announce the “Learn to Give Back” program in collaboration with TWECS, (Third World Eye Care Society), a 100% volunteer registered Canadian charity. TWECS is also a chapter of VOSH International (Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity), a non-profit international organization, founded in 1971.
Founders: Derrick March and Dr. Marina Roma-March
TWECS’ mission is to collect old unused eyeglasses and distribute these eyeglasses in conjunction with eye exams given by properly trained individuals. The distribution of eyeglasses is made in developing countries where, because of poverty or lack of availability of eye care services, individuals are unable to obtain eyeglasses and primary eye care.
TWECS is an International Charity registered in Ottawa and founded by Dr. Marina Roma-March and Derrick March 27 years ago. They first served the poor living in the garbage dumps of Manila Philippines in 1995 shortly after finishing their university education.
Through the passage of many hands in eye clinics, optical stores, churches, and service clubs like the Lions Clubs, Rotary Clubs and the Knights of Columbus, donated eyeglasses reach the TWECS warehouse. The TWECS eyeglass warehouse, the base for its preparation of the 10,000 eyeglasses they bring on a project is generously provided by the Burnaby Lougheed Lions Club. TWECS volunteers meet every Monday evenings at the eyeglass warehouse to clean, measure and sort through over 250,000 donated eyeglasses.
TWECS has been supported over the years by the Canadian Association of Optometrists, Volunteer Optometric Services for Humanity, 10 Provincial Canadian Optometric Associations, Rotary International, Lions Clubs International, The Knights of Columbus , and the Fred Hollows Foundation. All the members of the society are unpaid volunteers most of whom are professionals from across Canada.
Peru Mission Volunteer: Tom Weissberger
TWECS teams pay their own expenses to travel to developing countries and provide thorough eye exams and the highest quality recycled refurbished prescription eyeglasses to the poor.
Through the passage of many hands in eye clinics, optical stores, churches, and service clubs like the Lions Clubs, Rotary Clubs and the Knights of Columbus, donated eyeglasses reach the TWECS warehouse.
The “Learn to Give Back” program will donate 10% of all revenue sales of Optical courses authored by Tom Weissberger, The Practical Professor that are made available through the OptikConEd accredited continuing education platform (www.OptikConEd.com).
The program begins immediately and will contribute to the planned mission in Jaipur, India in 2023. Optik will also help bring awareness to TWECS through its various media platforms.
About TWECS (Third World Eye Care Society) (www.TWECS.ca) TWECS mission is simply to provide free eye care and the highest quality eyeglasses to the poorest of the poor in developing countries. Since 1995 TWECS teams of eye doctors, opticians and volunteers have provided free eye care and free eyeglasses to over 101,000 underprivileged people in 16 countries around the world. They have set up eye clinics in Mexico, Guatemala, India, Grenada, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines, Nepal, and in the African countries of Kenya, Malawi, Ethiopia and Tanzania. TWECS is a member of the World Health Organization’s Emergency Medical Teams, responding to natural disasters.
About The Practical Professor Tom Weissberger is a 2nd generation options who has made all aspects of opticianry his life’s work. Tom brings over 10 years of teaching experience as a former professor at Canada’s leading Opticianry colleges.
About OptikConEd.com (www.OptikConEd.com) OptikConEd.com is an online education portal providing accredited continuing education (CE) courses for opticians and paraoptometric professionals. The platform supports delivery of CE courses in multiple media formats, access to a post-course quiz and generates a certificate for your accrediting regulator. Courses are accredited by NACOR, the College of Ontario Opticians and Ordre des opticiens d’ordonnances du Québec.
As two family companies with a passion for eye care, Laboratoires Théa and Labtician Ophthalmics recognized an opportunity to work together to bring innovative new products to Canadian patients. In 2018, this shared vision resulted in the formation of Labtician Théa, an ambitious Joint Venture with a 5-year term.
By focusing on supporting Canadian Eye Care professionals provide optimal care to their patients, the Labtician Théa Joint Venture has achieved its goals of creating a strong presence in the Canadian marketplace and offering Canadian Eye Care Professionals the most comprehensive suite of products and services available in the industry.
With the successful completion of the agreed-upon 5-year term, as of January 1, 2023, the Joint Venture will terminate, resulting in a stronger Labtician Ophthalmics with a new Therapeutics Division to complement its existing Surgical Division, and the launch of Théa Pharma Canada Inc., an affiliate of Laboratoires Théa, based in the Greater Toronto Area. As two separate entities, Labtician Ophthalmics and Théa Pharma Canada will be better positioned to service and support the Canadian Eye Care community for many years to come.
“Our partnership with Labtician Ophthalmics has allowed us to get to know the Canadian Eye Care professionals and understand their needs and that of their patients. It was a great way to introduce them to Théa and bring innovative best-in-class products to market that are supported by strong clinical evidence,” says Fiona McCloskey, Managing Director of Labtician Théa and Théa Pharma Canada. “With the launch of Théa Pharma Canada in 2023, our goal is to continue to provide ECPs and patients with new innovative treatments and solutions for a wide range of ocular diseases including Dry Eye, Glaucoma, Allergy and more over the years to come. We are thankful for our partnership with Labtician Ophthalmics and excited for this exciting new chapter in our journey as Théa Pharma Canada.”
This unique Joint Venture has also been a success for the team at Labtician Ophthalmics.
“Working with the world-class team and products at Théa allowed us to demonstrate our unique ability to platform other companies in the Canadian marketplace and showcase our skill of developing unprecedented business models and executing against them,” says Polydor Strouthos, President of Labtician Ophthalmics. “We built on our expertise in regulatory, cross-functional marketing, and customer expansion, and increased our capacity to launch products and entities. We bring innovation to practice and will provide our valued customers with more best-in-class products, services, and innovative solutions due to a stronger Labtician Ophthalmics with a new Therapeutics Division to complement our existing Surgical Division.
When mutually beneficial opportunities arise, Théa Pharma Canada Inc. and Labtician Ophthalmics Inc. will leverage their strong relationship and shared family values as Partners of Choice.
SILMO Paris has opened its 2027 Optical Design Competition to design students aged 18 and older. Up to 10 shortlisted projects will be prototyped and exhibited at the show.
Supported by Optometry Giving Sight, the Wabano Eye Clinic is improving access to culturally responsive eye care for urban Indigenous people in Ottawa through a sustainable community-based model.
Orthokeratologist.org is celebrating 70 years of orthokeratology with a new Ortho-k Pioneers Award and a historical series highlighting the innovators who advanced the field.
SILMO Paris has opened its 2027 Optical Design Competition to design students aged 18 and older. Up to 10 shortlisted projects will be prototyped and exhibited at the show.
Supported by Optometry Giving Sight, the Wabano Eye Clinic is improving access to culturally responsive eye care for urban Indigenous people in Ottawa through a sustainable community-based model.
Orthokeratologist.org is celebrating 70 years of orthokeratology with a new Ortho-k Pioneers Award and a historical series highlighting the innovators who advanced the field.
SILMO Paris has opened its 2027 Optical Design Competition to design students aged 18 and older. Up to 10 shortlisted projects will be prototyped and exhibited at the show.
Supported by Optometry Giving Sight, the Wabano Eye Clinic is improving access to culturally responsive eye care for urban Indigenous people in Ottawa through a sustainable community-based model.
Orthokeratologist.org is celebrating 70 years of orthokeratology with a new Ortho-k Pioneers Award and a historical series highlighting the innovators who advanced the field.
SILMO Paris has opened its 2027 Optical Design Competition to design students aged 18 and older. Up to 10 shortlisted projects will be prototyped and exhibited at the show.
Supported by Optometry Giving Sight, the Wabano Eye Clinic is improving access to culturally responsive eye care for urban Indigenous people in Ottawa through a sustainable community-based model.
Orthokeratologist.org is celebrating 70 years of orthokeratology with a new Ortho-k Pioneers Award and a historical series highlighting the innovators who advanced the field.
