Biography via lead411 wikitravel


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    Matthew Freedman

    Quiet giant makes splash from Basalt headquarters

    Towns in the Roaring Fork Valley often dream of luring businesses that supply decent-paying jobs that don’t depend on tourism.

    Biography via lead411 wikitravel

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  • Usually it’s just a dream.

    In Basalt, that has evolved into reality over the past seven years.

    A company called Total Merchant Services has quietly become the biggest employer in town and one of the largest private sector firms in the valley.

    It supplies the machines through which businesses process credit cards and technical support to more than 40,000 businesses throughout the country.

    The rapidly growing company already employs more than 100 workers at its headquarters in downtown Basalt and plans to add 65 positions within the next year, according to company President Ed Freedman, 33.

    He co-founded the company with his brother, Matt, 38.

    Basalt’s other large employer, the schools, employ roughly 150 full- and part-time employees, according to a spokeswoman for