February 2019
Business of the Month
Launch the media gallery 1 playerSouthwestern Eye Care, located at 101 N. Maple, Brighton has been selected by the Village of Brighton Economic Committee as a February 2019 Business of the Month.
The Owner is Dena Bachman, a 1985 Southwestern High School graduate. She graduated from from the U of I in Champaign in 1989 with a BS in Biology, received her BS in visual sciences in 1991 and received her doctorate in 1993 from the Illinois College of Optometry in Chicago. Dena married Sam Bachman in 1989 and they have three children: Emily, Graham, and AmyDee. Dena’s parents are Tom and Phyllis Graham, and are/were instrumental in what she is doing today.
Southwestern Eye Care is an S Corporation with hours Monday, 7 am-5 pm; Tuesday 8:30 am-6 pm; Thursday and Friday, 8:30 am-5 pm; Saturday, 8:30-noon; closed Sundays.
Southwestern Eye Care provides comprehensive medical eye care and offers a full-service optical and contact lens services. They also offer vision therapy. They have recently started fitting scleral contact lenses for patients who struggle to achieve good vision with glasses or contacts or have a medical condition that is treated by scleral lenses. Prokera Amniotic Membrane Transplant for patients with ocular diseases that warrant this treatment is offered as well.
Dena comments, “I am originally from Brighton and wanted to return to my roots to serve the community and raise my family in the place I call home. Our mission statement is “rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man.” Ephesians 6:7.
“One of the ways we strive to fulfill this mission statement is to offer free eye exams to those in our community that do not have insurance on our Annual Free Day in November. I love to employ local people. We are a family at Southwestern Eye Care and I really enjoy going to work with people that I have known since high school. We have had mostly the same staff since we opened. We have just kept adding employees which has been a blessing!”
Owner Dena stated, “We have 13 people employed at Southwestern Eye Care, including my youngest daughter.”
Most of the staff are certified in their fields. They have two ABO Certified opticians, four Certified Paraoptometrics and a Certified Optometric Office Manager. Our part-time doctor, Dr. Jen Bulmann, is a Captain in the United States Air Force and is a Fellow in the Academy of Optometry.
“We continue to grow, and two employees have recently assumed management positions, office manager Jenny Reedy and optical manager Kristi McMillian. Bev Wallace and Jodi Parrino are my paraoptometric assistants, Erica Fitzgerald is in charge of patient accounts and is transitioning to include insurance accounts in the coming year, Vonda Bachman and Paula Bozarth are in the optical department and Kelly Williams and Kathy Foiles are in the insurance department. Growth is always exciting! I am truly blessed by each of these ladies and the commitment with which they serve our community.”
“This summer we will be blessed with having Southwestern graduate Ben Lowis working with us as he is pursuing education to become an optometrist. He has been in the office shadowing us a few times this year and we have really enjoyed having him. He is currently studying at Illinois State in Bloomington.”
“The main challenge of our business is the constant changes in government regulations. Meeting many of their demands is challenging for all businesses but especially small businesses.”
Dena concluded, “We strive to continue to deliver outstanding care to our patients and the community at large. Many people have told me we need a bigger building, but I am not sure that will happen in the short term. Only time will tell. Right now, we are just focused on providing excellent patient care.”