Featured in Forbes

Konrad Billetz sees his inclusion in Forbes magazine's top 30 manufacturing entrepreneurs nationwide who are younger than 30 as a "big responsibility."

"I'm excited to say the least; it's a huge honor," said Billetz, who founded the Frameri "one lens, many frames" online eyeglass company.

"It says, 'You'd better really make this happen.' It's not a list that says you've made it. It's a list that says you're headed in the right direction."

After being the salutatorian of his Post Falls High class of 2005, Billetz, 28, earned a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from Boise State University. He then received a master's degree in business administration from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.

Billetz, known as K.C. during high school when he was a three-sport standout athlete, began developing his company prior to graduating from business school. Frameri, a Cincinnati-based firm which manufactures lenses that can be used with multiple frames, launched last July.

"I always wanted to start my own company," he said. "Not for the title, but I wanted to do something challenging and create something that can do a lot of good for a lot of people. My biggest role models were people who started companies."

Frameri has eight employees.

"We work nonstop," Billetz said. "(The Forbes listing) is really a team award. We design everything in-house."

Billetz declined to release company sales information, as it's a private firm and investors don't want to release such information.

He said the Forbes honor should help the company raise capital from investors, raise employee morale and boost future employee recruiting efforts.

"More than anything, it says we are onto something that has good potential," he said. "It's a startup, so we have good days and bad."

Billetz said he'll also have access to network with some of the top "game changers" in the country.

After he was nominated, Billetz attended a three-day summit hosted by Forbes in Philadelphia in October that featured speakers who are among the top entrepreneurs in the country. The group selected this week, including Billetz, will attend a similar event this coming fall.

The Forbes distinction comes on the heels of Frameri winning $100,000 last year in the "Rise of the Rest Road Trip" competition held by America Online co-founder Steve Case.

Billetz, whose parents are retired Post Falls school administrators John and Julie Billetz, said his frustration with the eyewear industry started when he was shot in the eye by a friend with a BB gun when he was 11.

Since the incident, Billetz was forced to wear lenses and glasses.

"It never made sense to us why glasses are made the way they are," the Frameri website states. "The thing that's so integrated into your wardrobe and personal style is the hardest to change, and that's why we invented Frameri. It's time for glasses to change. No more changing frames every time your prescription changes or overpaying for glasses."

The regular prices for Frameri eyeglasses are $100 for the lenses and $100 each for the frames.

"The biggest reason that I wanted to pursue this is there wasn't much innovation or new products in eyewear in the past century, so it seemed this was an opportunity that we could take advantage of," Billetz said.