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| Sam Westover |
Sonic Innovations, Salt Lake City, has been awarded a contract to supply hearing aids to the Veterans Administration (VA) beginning November 1, says a statement released by the company.
The VA has awarded the company a 1-year contract with four 1-year extension options. Sonic anticipates participating in the contract for the entire 5 years, said the statement.
According to industry data from the Hearing Industry Association, the VA represents approximately 18% of the market for hearing aids and it has experienced unit growth of more than 29% for the 3 months ended June 30, 2009 compared to the same period of 2008, says a statement from Sonic.
Sonic CEO Sam Westover said in the statement that winning the VA contract is a significant opportunity for Sonic, offering the opportunity to provide hearing care to the single largest purchaser of hearing aids in North America. According to contract documents, the VA anticipates purchasing from the qualified suppliers some 430,000 hearing aids in first year of the contract, with steady growth in volume over the following 4 years.
Westover said the award was gratifying because it provided Sonic with another opportunity to support military service personnel. As a US company, we are excited to be able to provide our technologically advanced hearing aids to our US veterans, he said in the statement. In November, the company donated more than $35,000 to the Armed Forces Foundation in conjunction with a program launched in July, wherein Sonic pledged $50 for each Velocity hearing instrument sold through October 1, 2008.
Hearing damage is the leading disability being faced by our returning veterans, and we are looking forward to the opportunity to serve them, he added.
Sonic submitted its proposal to the VA in response to a request for proposal issued earlier this year. The company was successful in receiving an award in each of the categories in which it bid, allowing it to sell its custom, behind-the-ear, and receiver-in-canal products through the VA, according to the statement.
Sonic is part of the Otix Global Inc family, which is a global provider of hearing solutions.
[Source: Sonic]
