South Windsor, Conn.-Gerber Coburn Optical Inc. is pleased to announce that Essilor Labs of America has awarded the company with their primary pad business for 2003. Complying with Essilor’s annual bid process, Gerber Coburn presented a comprehensive proposal that clearly demonstrated the company’s ability to deliver a full range of consumable products. Under the agreement, Essilor Labs of America committed to purchasing Gerber Coburn’s DFS II Surfacing Pad System.

“We are very pleased to have this opportunity to support the Essilor lab group,” indicated John Hancock, president, Gerber Coburn. “This contract adds another facet to our growing worldwide relationship with Essilor.”

Hancock went on to say, “We’ve worked diligently at providing the right combination of products and services for our wholesale lab customers - this award reinforces our long-term commitment to the labs. And to better serve our customers, we’ve invested in significant resources that will enable us to provide high quality consumable products that are attractively priced.”

“Gerber Coburn is the leader in ophthalmic processing solutions - both in equipment and processing materials - and winning the Essilor primary pad business further confirms our position in the industry,” he stated. “We envision this award as a vaulting point to further increase worldwide market share in processing materials,” noted Hancock.

According to Audrey Reed, senior director of purchasing, Essilor, “We are confident Gerber Coburn will continue to provide excellent customer service and outstanding products to all our network laboratories.”

Gerber Coburn is the world’s leading provider of computer integrated optical lens processing systems. The company designs, produces, markets and supports equipment, software, and supplies used in surfacing prescriptions in lens blanks, coating lenses, and machining lenses to fit patient frames. Based in South Windsor, Conn., Gerber Coburn operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Gerber Scientific Inc.

Gerber Scientific is the world’s leading supplier of sophisticated automated manufacturing systems for sign making and specialty graphics, apparel and flexible goods, and optical lens processing. Headquartered in South Windsor, Conn., the Company operates through four wholly owned subsidiaries: Gerber Scientific Products, Spandex PLC, Gerber Technology, and Gerber Coburn.