NEWARK, N.J.—Jobson has announced its 2026 roster of Ultimate Partners, a special Vision Monday and 20/20 section celebrating readers’ nominations of outstanding business support partners. This spring, via the Ultimate Partners program, the two Jobson publications asked their readers from all eyecare professions to share their choices for great business support partners in another year of both challenges and opportunities. Looking back into 2025, as well as early this year, readers were asked to recall the business partners who showed up at the right moment to solve a problem during challenging times, provide help when it was needed, or simply offer support that lightened the load.
“We are excited to once again have the opportunity to showcase the great work being done within the optical industry, as well as by the partners who provide key support each day,” said Anne Cooper, editorial director of Vision Monday and 20/20. “In this special section, we share your stories about people and companies who have gone above and beyond in their support of your practices, companies and businesses. We hope you enjoy reading about this year’s honorees as we highlight the great work that they do.”
To identify this year’s “class” of Ultimate Partners, we asked the readers of VM and 20/20 to participate in an online survey from Jobson Research. Respondents provided us with details about their most valuable partners by answering these questions: what supplier/business partner stepped up and illuminated new and valuable solutions? Who went above and beyond? Did they reshape a problem into an opportunity? Next, they were then asked to provide examples of exceptional collaboration such as:
• Visual merchandising
• Retail event support
• Launch support focus
• Optical on main/independent retailer focus
• Sustainability focus
• Extraordinary customer service support
• Creative solutions to staffing shortages/personnel support
Based on the responses received, a special advertorial section was created for companies to celebrate their nomination as a great business support partner. The section is now posted within the September digital edition of 20/20 and will also be featured in the upcoming September issue of Vision Monday. It includes the following companies:
