The Newton Group has been proudly serving eye care professionals since 1982. From our humble beginnings in the basement of Dr. Bond’s practice, we quickly grew to become an industry leader in providing services for the independent practitioner community. Today, we are one of the largest purchasing alliances in the country leveraging the buying power of over 2,500 eye care professionals with over 200 ophthalmic suppliers, ship tens of thousands of contact lenses daily to members nationwide and provide a full range of management services and tools to help your business thrive. We pride ourselves on being a company that truly understands the constantly changing needs and new challenges facing our members in this dynamic industry. We are your partner for business success.
Distribution
Take advantage of substantial savings by purchasing from The Newton Group, one of the largest authorized contact lens distributors in the country. We stock hundreds of thousands of lenses from all the major contact lens manufacturers such as Bausch & Lomb, Ciba Vision, Vistakon, Cooper Vision and Hydrogel Vision Corp. We pride ourselves on giving the same great quality service and attention no matter what the size of the order.
Ophthalmic Buying Group
On your behalf, Newton works with over 240 ophthalmic suppliers to give you that competitive edge in the market place. No matter how large or small your practice, we can help you become more profitable by combining your purchasing power with thousands of other practices. Together, we are stronger.
Management Services
Building off of our foundation of purchasing power, distribution and convenient centralized billing, we aim to provide you the tools to not only to compete, but to thrive. We have put together a series of programs designed to assist you in the management of your practice while still allowing you to maintain complete control so you can spend more time in the exam room and be provided the information and tools you need to realize cost savings opportunities, improve service, reach a new technology driven patient base and grow your top line.
Meet the Team
Dr. Jim Bond, O.D.
Originally from Madison, Wisconsin, Dr. Bond is a graduate of the University of Iowa and the Southern California College of Optometry. He and his wife, also an optometrist, pursued private practice careers in Newton, Iowa. During his optometric career, he served on legislative and third party committees with the Iowa Optometric Association, becoming its president in 1993-94. At the American Optometric Association, he served as Director of the Member Services Center, was a member if its’ Long Range Planning Committee and also was the chair of the MERT project, or membership expansion and retention team. He has also held hospital staff privileges at Skiff Medical Center in Newton, Iowa, and both Broadlawn Medical Center and the Veterans Hospitals in Des Moines, Iowa. Within the eye care industry, Dr. Bond has served on the Mid America VSP board, been on numerous industry advisory panels, including Bausch and Lomb and Ciba Vision.
Dr. Bond has also been very active as a businessman both within and outside of the eye care industry. He has been involved with the development and ownership of numerous companies, including; Computer Software, Ophthalmic Manufacturing, Cold Storage and Transport, Contact Lens Solutions, Residential Development, Luxury Resort Development and Building Products. Through this unusual mix of involvements, Dr. Bond has a somewhat uncommon and unique perspective that combines both the views of a successful private practice optometrist with those of a successful entrepreneurial businessman.
Kristi Bond
Kristi is a graduate of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois where she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Certificate in Engineering Design from the Segal Design Institute. Upon graduation, she began her career as a management consultant for Diamond Management and Technology Consultants out of Chicago, Illinois. As a traveling consultant she worked on projects ranging from performing a rationalization of the application portfolio of the international merchant systems division of American Express to developing a strategy to help transition a traditionally brick and mortar company to use their professional strengths to more effectively compete in the software and online realm at H&R Block. After leaving Diamond she went to work for a luxury resort on Table Rock Lake where she served as a resort manager and developed the standard operating procedures during the property’s launch. Kristi joined The Newton Group in the fall of 2010 to launch the new Management Services division of the organization. As the daughter of two optometrists, she grew up around the ophthalmic industry and understands its unique challenges. She is proudly bringing the consulting tools and technology traditionally available to big business to the independent eye care practitioner community.
Brett Pihl
A native Minnesotan, Brett attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois where he graduated with a Bachelors of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering. After graduating, he began his career with Beghou Consulting as an analyst in the pharmaceutical and health care industry. There, his responsibilities included working with a team to develop and maintain a fully customized Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software solution for a national network of sales representatives. His work also consisted of providing business intelligence analytics to a broad spectrum of clients with combined annual revenue of over $4 billion. After his experience at Beghou, Brett returned to his engineering roots to lead a major infrastructure development project that included the implementation of a unique open loop water to water HVAC system and putting the procedures in place to ensure the 500 acre multi-use development functioned systemically and efficiently. Brett joined the Newton team in the spring of 2010 to develop the Management Services initiative and apply his experience of data mining, sales and marketing analytics and process optimization to the ophthalmic industry.
Brandon Keenan
Since Brandon took over the distribution center in 2005 the company has seen a tremendous efficiency improvement in the critical path operational processes which have directly benefitted our members. Reorganization, identifying efficiency opportunities, and process optimization are among Brandon's key attributes and he is helping to apply those core competencies at a practice level for our clients. Brandon has over 11 years of industry experience and holds degrees in computer science and digital electronics accompanied by numerous IT certifications.
Joy Lane
Joy completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Iowa and earned her M.B.A. from the University of Chicago. After leaving Chicago, she was employed by Cummins Engine Company, Inc. of Columbus, Indiana and Nashville, Tennessee in a variety of roles ranging from financial analysis and pricing strategy to project management. She also had responsibility for investor relations working closely with both sell-side and buy-side analysts. Recently, she worked for Maytag, Inc. in Newton, Iowa in general accounting, capital assets, and treasury functions. Her extensive experience includes financial statement oversight, financial planning, and internal reporting as well as cash management and audit. She is married with three grown children. Joy joined The Newton Group in February 2011.
Signing up to become a member of The Newton Group is fast and easy.
For more information please email information@newtonpro.com or call 1-800-232-5729.