Contact Lens Manufacturers Association

What Contact Lens Manufacturers Association does

The Contact Lens Manufacturers Association (CLMA) is a US-based nonprofit trade association founded in 1961 that represents contact lens laboratories, material manufacturers, solution providers, and equipment manufacturers in the United States and abroad. Its mission is to increase awareness and utilization of custom manufactured contact lenses, achieved through collective advocacy on regulatory and standards issues, industry collaboration, and the operation of an educational affiliate, the GP Lens Institute (GPLI), which delivers practitioner webinars and student workshops.

CLMA operates as a membership organization with tiered dues (Regular $750-$1,500, Associate and Special $2,000, International $750, plus Honorary), self-serve enrollment via its website with Stripe checkout, and a members-only portal providing GTR (Government, Technical, and Regulatory) newsletters, Lean Six Sigma resources, member spotlights, and the CL Essentials for Consultants program. Member companies include diagnostic device vendors (OCULUS), specialty lens laboratories (PTS Optics, TruForm Optics, AccuLens, Valley Contax), surface technology firms (Tangible Science), precision tooling suppliers (K&Y Diamond), and material producers (Contamac, Acuity Polymers). Revenue mechanics are essentially subscription dues plus modest per-blank fees on Associate members, with annual awards (Dr. Josef Dallos, Leonardo da Vinci, CLMA Medal of Honor, Trailblazers, Industry Enhancement, Honorary Recognition) reinforcing community status.

Name

Contact Lens Manufacturers Association

Legal name

Contact Lens Manufacturers Association, Inc.

Website

https://clma.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

1961

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Contact Lens Manufacturers Association is a US-based nonprofit trade association founded in 1961 that represents contact lens laboratories, material manufacturers, and equipment suppliers, supporting them through advocacy, education, and the GP Lens Institute.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industry Trade Association

NAICS

Business Associations (813910)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Affinity, Membership & Association Referral Programs (FSAEAMAL)

Keywords

• Contact lens manufacturing
• Industry trade association
• Specialty contact lenses
• Contact lens laboratories
• GP lens education

Headquarters

HQ city

Lincoln

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: CLMA generates revenue primarily through annual membership dues structured by membership category and company size. Regular membership dues range from $750 to $1,500 per year based on employee count. Associate and Special memberships are priced at $2,000 per year. International membership costs $750 per year. Additional per-blank fees apply for lens blank sales: $0.30 per corneal GP blank and $0.50 per GP scleral lens blank.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

CLMA is a nonprofit trade association that provides tiered membership services to contact lens laboratories and material, solution, and equipment manufacturers, including collective advocacy, regulatory affairs support, networking, and practitioner education. Its core deliverable is the membership program (Regular, Associate, International, Special, Honorary tiers) that grants access to a members-only portal, the GTR newsletter, a member directory, Lean Six Sigma resources, and the educational affiliate GPLI.

Product overview

CLMA is a trade association organized in 1961 serving contact lens laboratories, material manufacturers, solution and equipment manufacturers, and service providers. The association offers membership programs with tiered pricing (Regular, Associate, International, Special, and Honorary categories) providing access to industry collaboration, GPLI educational resources, GTR newsletters, member portal, Lean Six Sigma programs, and networking opportunities. Member spotlights feature companies like OCULUS (diagnostic devices), PTS Optics (Ortho-K designs, KATT Cloud platform), Tangible Science (Hydra-PEG coating technology), and K&Y Diamond (diamond tooling).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CLMA Membership

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• GP Lens Institute (GPLI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe GP Lens Institute is CLMA's educational affiliate. CLMA supports ECP (Eye Care Professional) contact lens education with funding for the GPLI. The GPLI provides educational resources, online modules on specialty contact lens fitting, monthly live webinars, and student workshops throughout the country. This partnership enables CLMA to fulfill its practitioner education objective and provides member laboratories with visibility to the practitioner community.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• American Academy of Ophthalmology: Major professional medical association for ophthalmologists with overlapping regulatory and education interests in specialty contact lenses, orthokeratology, and myopia management.
• Health Industry Distributors Association: Trade association for healthcare product distributors with comparable dues-based membership model and regulatory advocacy mission, applicable as an organizational structure comparable to CLMA.
• American Academy of Optometry: Larger, more established optometric professional organization with broader scope but significant overlap with CLMA in specialty contact lens research, education, and clinical practice advancement.
• AdvaMed: Largest U.S. medical technology trade association; comparable membership association structure and FDA regulatory advocacy mission, though operating across all medical devices rather than contact lens specialty.

Emerging players

• Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry: Educational association representing optometric institutions; tangential peer given CLMA's GPLI investment in optometric student workshops and curriculum for specialty contact lens fitting.

Direct peers

• Opticians Association of America: National trade association for opticians with comparable member-driven advocacy, education, and industry collaboration functions targeting the same vision care ecosystem.
• American Optometric Association: National professional association for optometrists in the U.S., serving a closely overlapping practitioner base that CLMA engages through GPLI and shares the mission of advancing optometric care, including specialty contact lens practice.
• Contact Lens Society of America: Professional society specifically for contact lens fitters and practitioners; operates in the same contact lens specialty education space as CLMA's GPLI affiliate and addresses overlapping practitioner audiences.
• National Academy of Opticianry: Professional association for opticians with overlapping education and certification mission, serving a stakeholder adjacent to CLMA's contact lens practitioner community.
• Medical Device Manufacturers Association: Trade association representing medical device manufacturers, offering a directly comparable organizational model to CLMA (membership dues, regulatory advocacy, industry collaboration) though in a broader medical device context.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/contactlensmanufacturersassociation
• Instagraminstagram.com/theclma

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Contact Lens Manufacturers Association