Yagen Moshe Amos Netzer
Shamir Optical Industry Names Yagen Moshe as CEO and President

KIBBUTZ SHAMIR, Israel—Shamir Optical Industry, the Israel-based spectacle lens manufacturer, has appointed Yagen Moshe as president and CEO. Moshe will take over the management roles from Amos Netzer on July 1, 2018. Moshe joined Shamir Optical in 2005 as a financial controller and was named chief financial officer in 2006. In 2013, Moshe held the position of chief operating officer and in 2014, was named deputy CEO, and CEO of Shamir Asia.

“We are very pleased to see Yagen step into the role of CEO,” said Omry Rotem, chairman of Shamir Optical’s Board of Directors. “Under his leadership, business in Shamir Asia increased contributing to the overall growth of Shamir Optical. We are looking forward to his leadership further pushing the growth of Shamir Optical in an ever changing world,” added Rotem.

Netzer announced his impending retirement in March, which will take place June 30, 2018. Netzer will work together with Moshe, until his retirement, to ensure a smooth transition.

“We are grateful for Amos’ successful leadership of Shamir Optical for the past nine years,” said Rotem. “Our company was very different in 2009 when Amos was appointed CEO; he was instrumental in leading the discussion with Essilor to create a joint venture, and under his leadership Shamir Optical’s revenues nearly doubled since 2011. We would like to express our highest appreciation to Amos, and thank him for his highly valuable contribution and wish him all the best.”

Before he was CEO of Shamir Optical, Netzer served as an external director of the Shamir board of directors until 2007. From July 2000 until September 2007 he served as the managing director of Palram Industries Ltd., a public company traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.


Laura Howard
Kenmark Eyewear Appoints Laura Howard as Lilly Pulitzer Eyewear Designer

LOUISVILLE, K.Y.—Kenmark Eyewear has appointed Laura Howard as Lilly Pulitzer eyewear designer.

Howard has worked for Kenmark Eyewear for five years, starting in graphic design for the marketing department. She eventually segued into product where she is currently a lead designer for Zac Posen women’s optical and runway collections, the Vera Wang runway collection and now the Lilly Pulitzer optical and sun collections.

“We are excited to see Laura Howard expand her talent and step into the exciting world of Lilly Pulitzer, as lead optical designer on the collection. The Lilly Pulitzer brand has an amazingly rich heritage in the resort chic lifestyle and Laura is a great fit to work closely with the Lilly Pulitzer team to continue the incredible success of the collection. We can’t wait to see the colorful and imaginative new products that will arrive soon,” said David Duralde, CCO.


Second Sight Appoints John T. Blake Chief Financial Officer

SYLMAR, Calif.—Second Sight Medical Products announced that John T. Blake has been appointed chief financial officer, effective immediately. Blake succeeds Thomas Miller, who has served as CFO since 2014. In June 2017, Miller submitted his resignation to pursue other opportunities but agreed at the company’s request to remain in the position until his successor was named. “We are delighted to welcome John to the Second Sight team. John’s financial acumen, track record of results and broad life sciences industry experience will support our efforts to grow Second Sight as we build on the momentum generated by the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System (Argus II) and as we advance the development of the Orion Cortical Visual Prosthesis System,” said Will McGuire, Second Sight’s president and CEO. “In addition, John’s strengths and capabilities are well-known to me since we worked together at Volcano. It will be a genuine pleasure to work with him again.”

Blake most recently served as senior vice president, finance of aTyr Pharma, a publicly-traded biotechnology company he joined in March 2015. Prior to aTyr, he was responsible for the global financial planning and analysis function at Volcano Corp.

Blake was also previously an auditor in public accounting and an analyst for BD Biosciences. His extensive transactional experience spans multiple public offerings and mergers and acquisitions, including the $1.2 billion sale of Volcano to Royal Philips, NV in February 2015.


Pascal Gartmann
Topcon Names Pascal Gartmann as Government Account Manager

OAKLAND, N.J.—Topcon Medical Systems, based here, announced that Pascal Gartmann joined its sales team as government account manager. In this new role, he will be responsible for the management of all government accounts in this rapidly expanding sales channel for Topcon. Gartmann will report to Dawna Owens, director of corporate and government sales.

Most recently, Gartmann worked as director of sales and product marketing for Haag-Streit USA, where he was responsible for department and sales budgeting as well as monitoring the YTD sales progress and P&L. He has a background in aviation and over 17 years of technical support experience.