ESSILOR IDD ADVANTAGE PLAN ANNOUNCES 2008 AWARD WINNERS
Enhanced Annual Laboratory Awards Recognize Top Distributors
DALLAS – (Feb. 19, 2009) – Essilor of America, Inc., the nation’s leading manufacturer of optical lenses, announced the winners of its enhanced Independent Distribution Division (IDD) Advantage Plan sm Annual Laboratory Awards. These new awards now recognize independent distributors who have achieved top sales and marketing performance in specific Essilor product categories. Essilor provides each winning lab with a comprehensive rewards package.

Essilor determines the award winners based on a combination of several key sales-related factors, including unit and percentage unit growth, marketing programs and events executed during the year, Advantage Plan programs and promotion results, and partnership with the Essilor Brand sales team.

“Through Advantage Plan, Essilor is committed to providing industry-leading sales and marketing support to help laboratories achieve long-term success,” said Bob Colucci, IDD president. “We are proud to honor the achievements of these outstanding labs and look forward to continued partnership.”

The annual awards ceremony held at Essilor’s National Sales Meeting on Jan. 6 recognized outstanding achievements of one lab in each category:

Varilux® Award of Excellence:
Central Optical – Youngstown, OH

Crizal® Award of Excellence:
Balester Optical Co. – Wilkes Barre, PA

Premium Materials Award of Excellence:
Balester Optical Co. – Wilkes Barre, PA

Essilor Transitions® Award of Excellence:
Walman Optical – Minneapolis, MN

Essilor IDD Lab of the Year:
Balester Optical Co. – Wilkes Barre, PA

Essilor IDD Managed Care Lab of the Year:
Davis Vision – Plainview, NY

Essilor's IDD Advantage Plan is a comprehensive distributor program, providing laboratories exclusive services and support in five key areas: marketing, education, sales, technical services and technology transfer and funding. With industry-leading tools and support, the IDD Advantage Plan program helps laboratories excel.
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Essilor, Varilux, Crizal and DEFINITY are registered trademarks of Essilor International. Thin&Lite is a registered trademark and Advantage Plan is a service mark of Essilor of America, Inc. Transitions is a registered trademark of Transitions Optical, Inc.