The Team

Meet Our Team

Ned Hazard, President

Ned has been President of Freitas Equipment (Leading Edge's predecessor company) since 2007. He entered the industrial laundry business in 2004 when he, and two partners, purchased Bird Bath Commercial Laundry in Manchester, NH. Bird Bath was a small, owner operated, laundry focused on the hospitality sector. The business was rebranded as Sterling Linen Services, and after three rounds of capital expansion between 2004 and 2007 – the business had grown from processing 2 million pounds of linen with 20 employees to processing over 12 million pounds with 100+ employees. During these expansions, Ned became a customer of Freitas Equipment where he got to know Dan Freitas. Ned's experiences with used equipment procurement, during this process, was similar to most – win some / lose some. Ned and his partners saw the opportunity to expand the Freitas business, and pursued an acquisition of the business in 2007. Freitas Equipment ran as an independent division from 2007 to 2019. In November of 2019, Ned arranged to purchase the assets of Freitas Equipment and has re-focused on building the business to provide outstanding support to laundries in the North East, and refurbished equipment nationwide.

Dan Freitas, General Manager / Equipment Refurbishment

During his 35+ years in the industrial laundry sector, Dan has earned an unmatched reputation for his equipment knowledge. His ability to deliver reliable, cost effective, refurbished laundry equipment to laundries throughout the US hasn't gone unnoticed. Dan started his laundry career in the 70's working on small laundries before moving to GA Braun to work as a field service representative. In the 80's Dan started Freitas Enterprising to serve as Braun's New England distributor. Several decades later, Dan is still an invaluable resource to Leading Edge customers who rely on his knowledge of Braun equipment – and his rebuilds – to get the laundry out each and every day.

Lisa Mountain, Customer Service / Controller

Lisa has been with Leading Edge for over 7 years. She handles all of our critical back office functions and ensures that our customers are receiving outstanding service from our field service team. She's also responsible for making sure all parts arrive on time to our customers. Lisa's background, prior to Leading Edge, was in the automotive space where she learned her customer centered approach.

Martin Jones, Senior Field Service Technician

Martin has over 35 years of experience in the industrial laundry space. He has served in the engineering functions for several leading laundries in New England – including Sterling Linen Services. While working at Sterling Linen, Martin got to know Ned and Dan. They quickly decided to move Martin into a field role at Freitas Equipment (now Leading Edge) due to Martin's extensive knowledge of multiple manufacturers and laundering processes. This background makes him a valuable resource to Leading Edge customers.