FOUNDER OF INDUSTRY-LEADING EQUESTRIAN APPAREL COMPANY JOINS WELL DONE FOUNDATION’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS, ADOPTS ORPHANED OIL WELL IN MONTANA
Kerri Kent, Who Started Kerrits Performance Equestrian Apparel in 1986, Will Focus Her Efforts on WDF and Rally the Apparel Industry to Support its Mission of Conservation
Whitefish, MT – August 5, 2020 – Noted equestrian apparel designer and founder of Kerrits Performance Equestrian Apparel Kerri Kent has joined the Well Done Foundation’s (WDF) board of directors, according to WDF chairman Curtis Shuck.
After founding Kerrits in 1986 and spending more than three decades leading the company, Kent was looking for meaningful new chapter in her career. “I have been friends with Curtis for a long time and love what the Well Done Foundation is doing,” Kent said. “The apparel and textile industry needs opportunities to improve its carbon footprint and environmental practices. I’m excited to use my experience and connections to help the Well Done Foundation find innovative ways to help bring sustainable practices to my former industry.”
Kent has also adopted an orphaned oil well in Montana’s Toole County and is funding its plugging and surface restoration through WDF. “I wanted to go through the physical process of adopting and plugging the well and restoring the surface environment,” Kent said. “I had no idea how toxic the situation surrounding these open wells is. The open hole in the ground, the smell, and the invisible gas can’t be described in a photograph.”
The well she has adopted, Bluhm #14 in the Northern Montana Oil Patch, was drilled in September of 1934 and produced crude oil until 1994 when the operators fell onto hard times and it was abandoned, ending up the responsibility of the State of Montana. Plugging this well will completely eliminate more than 5,700 metric tonnes of carbon emissions (CO2e), equal to removing 1,425 automobiles from the road.
In addition to her sponsorship and seat on the board, Kent will be very involved in WDF’s ongoing initiative to plug wells throughout the United States and plans to spread the word to colleagues and friends in the fashion industry, which emits more carbon than international flights and maritime shipping combined.
“Kerri is not only aligned with our mission of conservation and leaving the Earth a better place, she’s deeply connected in a huge industry that can really make a positive difference,” Shuck said. “The fact that she’s both joined our board and is also adopting a well shows her commitment but also sets an example that hopefully inspires other high-profile players to join our project.”
Kerri Kent founded Kerrits more than three decades ago as a performance activewear manufacturer when she was a competitive windsurfer in the Pacific Northwest’s Columbia River Gorge. The company is now a globally recognized brand.
About the Well Done Foundation
Formed in 2019, the Well Done Foundation enables the oil and gas industry to partner with the conservation community to create an alternative pathway to success that benefits all. The Well Done Process creates a strategic partnership among regulators, surface owners and adoptive parties, leading to a safe and seamless system that provides cost-effective and lasting results that improve the environment while working with the industry in a transparent structure that delivers value to its Triple Bottom Line: community partnerships (people), environmental responsibility (planet), and economic benefits (profit). Montana’s Golden Triangle Region is home to some of the richest soil and most productive growing acres in the United States. Well Done Montana works with its partners to transition the orphaned well sites into their next levels of service. For more information, visit https://welldonefoundation.com/.
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