Dr. Brent Brown Eyecare held its ribbon cutting ceremony Monday morning. Brown, who worked at the Walmart Vision Center in LaGrange for the last 12 years, said he was excited to have open his own practice.

“I’m on top of the world,” Brown said. “I wanted to have a private practice where I could actually give back to the community and do more mission work. I started collecting things for the last five years and over the last year it’s been really coming [together].”

Brown said he has traveled to almost 50 countries around the world, including Honduras and Thailand for tsunami relief, helping those in need with eye care and will start doing mission work again in the next year.

“I want to get back to mission work, I wasn’t able to do that at my previous job,” he said. “I’m able to have the time now since I have my own practice. I can devote the time back to mission work around the world.”

World travel is a theme along with comfort, Brown said.

“My philosophy is that we have too many worries, too many concerns and too many pressures outside this office. When you have your eyes examined, you shouldn’t have those concerns,” he said. “I’ve tried to create a relaxing world and put the theme where I get to give back to the community and give back to the world.”

The private practice is a full service and includes an optomap, which shows the back of a person’s eyes without dilating them.

“My equipment is pretty innovative and state of the art,” Brown said.

Brown said he had his first appointment last Wednesday and is already booked a week in advance.

A community member Kim Banks said the chamber is excited the business is now fully opened.

“It’s in a great place. I know he’s going to thrive. He’s always supported the LaGrange community,” Banks said. “And now that he has his own business everybody is going to support him because he’s always been such a great person in LaGrange.”

The business is located at 101 South Dawson Street. It is open Monday and Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 5:20 p.m, Tuesday from 10:30 a.m. to 6:20 p.m. Thursday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m,.Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.