Premier Eye Care CEO wins honors in Tampa Bay Business Woman of the Year awards

PALM HARBOR, Fla. (August 26, 2013) –Lorna Taylor, President and CEO of Premier Eye Care, received two significant honors in the Tampa Bay Business Journal’s Business Woman of the Year awards, announced last Friday at a formal gala at Innisbrook Golf Resort.

Taylor was named the winner in the Health & Wellness category of the awards, which honor accomplished businesswomen in the Tampa Bay area. She also received the Angie’s Award, given to the Business Woman of the Year finalist who best exemplifies commitment to community service.The award reflects Premier Eye Care’s far-reaching community involvement, which ranges from supporting blindness prevention to helping to empower thousands of women in Kenya.

Taylor is an accomplished leader, both in directing fast-growing Premier Eye Care, and in making an impact in the community. Premier, recently named one of “Florida’s Best Companies To Work For” by Florida Trend magazine, manages the routine vision and medical eye care of over 2 million insured people nationally through contracted physicians and facilities.

Personally, Taylor is involved in a wide variety of community and charitable causes. She serves on the Boards of Directors for Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Florida Prevent Blindness, Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Lion’s Eye Institute for Transplant and Research, Tampa Bay Business for Culture and Arts, Beth Waters Friendship Fund, and the University of Tampa Board of Trustees.

She also serves on the advisory boards of The Spring of Tampa Bay and Earth Charter US, is a recipient of the Angel Award from the Spring of Tampa Bay,and was honored earlier this year as a Woman of Distinction by the Girl Scouts of West Central Florida.

In addition to these involvements and honors, Premier Eye Care is a major supporter of the International Greenbelt Movement. The Movement’s founder, Wangari Maathai, won the Nobel Peace Price in 2004 for her work, running a program where women in Kenya could grow seedlings and plant trees, helping the country’s erosion problems while making money to improve their lives and start businesses. The program, which has resulted in the planting of more than 51 million trees, has fostered the growth of democracy in Kenya while empowering thousands of women.

“I am extremely honored to receive these two Tampa Bay Business Journal awards,” Taylor said. “It’s a thrill to be recognized for the company’s success, which is a function of how well our team performs and works together. And I am humbled by the Angie’s Award, knowing that contributing to our community is as important as the success we achieve in business.”

Angie’s Award is named in honor of the late Angie Joseph, a longtime circulation/marketing director for the Tampa Bay Business Journal. The winners of the Business Woman of the Year awards were selected from nearly 300 nominations by an independent panel of judges.

For details on the winners, go to http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/news/2013/08/23/why-you-need-to-know-the-2013-class-of.html?page=2.