Born from orthodontist Dr. Bob Smith’s kitchen-table experiments, Smith Optics makes performance eyewear, snow goggles, and helmets for outdoor sports. Smith’s first anti-fog, double-lens ski goggle led to a 1966 patent, and the company now cites more than 50 utility patents across six decades of problem-solving design.
REKKIEREKKIE makes smart snow goggles that put a heads-up display, friend tracking, and mountain statistics in a helmet-compatible goggle. The Cincinnati company pairs its goggles with a free iPhone and Android app, while its magnetic Spekter lenses let riders adapt to changing conditions without taking off their gloves. Its 2026 model is FCC approved and uses a glove-friendly control button, built-in goggle-to-goggle radio, and a battery rated for 15-plus hours in typical cold-weather use.CINCINNATI, OH
FGX International IncFrom its headquarters in Smithfield, Rhode Island, FGX International designs and markets non-prescription reading glasses and sunglasses for consumers around the world. An EssilorLuxottica company, FGX is best known in the United States for its Foster Grant brand and holds a portfolio of more than 50 owned and licensed eyewear brands. Since 2008, it has donated more than 17 million pairs of eyewear through RestoringVision.NEW YORK, NY
Vuzix CorporationFounded in 1997, Rochester-based Vuzix Corporation designs and manufactures waveguide optics and enterprise smart glasses for frontline, defense, and OEM applications. Its distinction is that core optics are designed and produced in-house at a U.S.-based, ISO 9001-certified facility, connecting optical development with volume manufacturing. With nearly 30 years in wearable optics and more than 500 optical-technology patents, Vuzix supplies both finished devices such as the M400 and LX1 and platforms for partners developing their own smart glasses.WEST HENRIETTA, NY
StickTite LensesA ski-trip problem led New Albany’s StickTite Lenses to develop instant stick-on reading lenses that convert sunglasses, goggles, and other eyewear into bifocals. Co-founders Tom Curley and Mike Tripplet worked with a Battelle material scientist to create a patented polymer that is thin, flexible, reusable, and able to adhere to glass and plastic—even underwater. The lenses are designed in Ohio and manufactured in China.NEW ALBANY, OH