United States Senator John Boozman, OD
A fifth-generation Arkansan, Dr. Boozman was raised in Fort Smith and graduated from Northside High School. He went on to play football for the University of Arkansas Razorbacks while completing his pre-optometry requirements. He graduated from the Southern College of Optometry in 1977 and entered private practice that same year co-founding a family business with his brother that would ultimately become a major provider of eye care to Northwest Arkansas.
Dr. John Boozman is Arkansas’s senior U.S. Senator and the dean of the state’s Congressional delegation.
Decades of experience as a successful healthcare provider and a small business owner guide Senator Boozman’s approach to governing. He is committed to advocating for economic policies that help Arkansas’s small businesses continue to grow and add jobs to the state’s economy.
Senator Boozman will serve as the Ranking Member of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry during the 117thCongress. He will also continue to serve on the Committee on Appropriations.
Along with these committees, Senator Boozman serves on the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Congressional Study Group on Europe and has been appointed the Vice Chairman of the Senate Delegation to the British-American Interparliamentary Group.
In addition, Senator Boozman also serves as one of six Congressional Regents on the Smithsonian Institute’s Board of Regents which governs and administers the organization.
Active in his community, Dr. Boozman has served on the Rogers School Board, the Benton County Fair Board, established the low vision program at the Arkansas School for the Blind in Little Rock and worked as a volunteer optometrist at an area clinic that provides medical services to low-income families.
Peter Cass, OD, ABO Diplomate
Dr. Cass received his Doctor of Optometry from the University of Houston College of Optometry (UHCO) where is serves as an adjunct faculty member, teaching practice management to third year students. He is a full-time associate with MyEyeDr. In Beaumont, partner in Elevate Digital Optics Lab in Dallas, a clinical researcher for Alcon, and an auditor for Medicaid.
Dr. Cass is also the Vice President of Practice Compliance Solutions, an optometry billing and compliance company, for which he lectures, provides regulatory guidance, billing and coding consulting, and audit support.
He is a Past President of the Texas Optometric Association (TOA) and continues to serve on the TOA’s Third Party Committee, Legal and Legislative Committee, and assists the TOA with third party and HIT issues. He has also served on the American Optometric Association’s (AOA) Health Information Exchange Committee and has served on and chaired the AOA’s Nominating Committee.
Dr. Cass was awarded the Young OD of the year award by the TOA in 2012, several TOA President Awards for distinguished service, the Entrepreneur of the Year award by his local Chamber of Commerce, and the Optometrist of the Year award by the TOA in 2021.
Hunter T. Puckett, JD
Hunter T. Puckett is a Managing Director of HPC Puckett & Company. Mr. Puckett joined the Firm in August 2007 and is involved in the transaction process, from strategic planning to the preparation and negotiation of closing documents for each of the Firm’s sectors. During his tenure with the Firm, he launched the retail and eye care professional sectors and has initiated dozens of transactions in those areas since 2015. He works with both existing and new clients to design innovative business models respecting possible divestiture, acquisitions, spin-offs, financing and other industry-related endeavors. In this regard, Mr. Puckett is responsible for the strategic development and overall management of the Firm’s business. He has been directly involved in the generation of and closing of hundreds of transactions since joining the Firm; and coordinates the various sub-sector interrelationships within the optical industry and their effect on the Firm’s clients. In addition, Mr. Puckett assists in the management of the Firm’s investments, and those of related entities, in combination with strategic planning for the Firm and specialty projects.
Mr. Puckett has been a regular speaker and panel moderator at the Vision Expo bi-annual meetings, chairing panels on optical e-commerce, optical retail and eye care professional consolidation and valuations.
Mr. Puckett received a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of San Diego in 2004, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, with combined coursework with the University of Denver Graduate Tax Program in 2007. Mr. Puckett is a member of the American Bar Association and the Kansas Bar Association. He is also a member of the Association for Corporation Growth, an association involved in middle-market corporate growth, corporate development, and mergers and acquisitions, San Diego Chapter.