In the News
Great Falls Tribune: Red ants pepper state ahead of music festival
Red Ants Pants, the company that makes women’s work pants and whose foundation organizes the annual Red Ants Pants Music Festival, has a new statewide marketing campaign starring, you guessed it, a red ant.
Learn moreGreat Falls Tribune: Red Ants Pants founder attends summit
Sarah Calhoun, owner of Red Ants Pants in White Sulphur Springs, spent the day at the White House last week for a national small business summit hosted by the nonpartisan Small Business Majority. As the only Montana business owner in attendance, Calhoun penned a guest column inviting other Montana business owners to share their ideas with her prior to the trip. From infrastructure to workforce training, she received dozens of emails and calls from fellow Montana businesses. “This has been an honor and a terrific platform to emphasize Montana’s unique opportunities at the national level,” Calhoun said. Calhoun spent May 12 at the National Press Club participating in panel discussions including topics such as women’s entrepreneurship, economic development and access to capital. Calhoun participated in additional small business summit discussions at the White House, where she pressed policymakers on leveling the playing field to encourage manufacturing in the U.S.
Learn moreBillings Gazette: Guest opinion: Let’s share great Montana small-business ideas
Next week, I’ll be attending the Small Business Majority’s Small Business Leadership Summit in our nation’s capital. The Summit brings together small business owners from across the country to speak directly to policymakers, issue experts and members of the administration to voice the needs of real small business owners. Red Ants Pants is the only small business representing Montana and one of only 100 businesses selected nationwide to participate. This is an incredible platform to emphasize Montana’s unique opportunities at the national level.
Learn moreBozeman Daily Chronicle: Guest Opinion: Carrying Montana’s small business voices to Washington
I started Red Ants Pants out of necessity. I had no interest in being in business, I just needed work pants that fit. It is a huge honor that this entrepreneurial adventure is taking me to the White House for a second time, but I need your help.
Learn moreGreat Falls Tribune: OPINION Red Ants Pants owner heads to D.C.
Next week, I’ll be attending the Small Business Majority’s Small Business Leadership Summit in our nation’s capital. The summit brings together small-business owners from across the country to speak directly to policymakers, issue experts and members of the administration to voice the needs of real small-business owners.
Learn moreBillings Gazette: Acclaimed Montana author Ivan Doig dies at 75
Sarah Calhoun, founder of Red Ants Pants in Doig’s hometown of White Sulphur Springs, was inspired to move to White Sulphur because of Doig’s memoir, “This House of Sky.” The Connecticut native was living in Bozeman when she read the book and because of the way it celebrated rural places and the characters that inhabit them, Calhoun packed her bags and headed to Meagher County. Her business manufactures work clothing for women. “Two winters ago, he sent me this beautiful handwritten letter, saying he was so glad I found his hometown and made it perk,” Calhoun said. When Doig was in Bozeman last fall to promote his latest book, “Sweet Thunder,” he invited Calhoun to meet him and his wife Carol at a downtown book store. “It was joyful. We couldn’t stop giggling with all the connections we shared with friends in Meagher County,” Calhoun said. “He was very gleeful.”
Learn moreGreat Falls Tribune: Rural health care conference planned
The event kicks off on March 20 at 7 p.m. in UM’s Urey Underground Lecture Hall with a series of high-energy presentations and an official Ignite event. Presenters include keynotes by Terry Hill, executive director of Rural Health Innovations, and senior adviser to the National Rural Health Resource Center, and Sarah Calhoun, rural community leader and entrepreneur, and founder of Red Ants Pants.
Learn moreAirstream Life: Sarah’s Red Ants Airstream
It was almost dusk and a golden light was sweeping across the stage in front of me when I caught a glimpse of Sarah Calhoun scurrying out of her vintage Airstream. She moved like the kind of woman who had places to be, and indeed, Calhoun was in high demand this particular weekend. I had come to the Red Ants Pants Music Festival in White Sulphur Springs, Montana hoping to meet up with this dynamo, but it was clear that producing and directing and event that attracted roughly 11,000 festival-goers was keeping her more than busy.
Learn moreExplore Big Sky: Tester: Montana growing in ‘ways we never imagined’
The summit at the Baxter Hotel – attended by more than 100 businesspeople from around the state – was organized by Business for Montana’s Outdoors and featured Headwaters’ research, panel discussions, and keynote addresses from U.S. Sen. Jon Tester and Red Ants Pants CEO Sarah Calhoun. “Businesses that create jobs are drawn to Montana’s public lands because there’s so much to offer among them – it’s one of our top competitive advantages,” Calhoun said in the opening address. “Montana’s economy is seeing a remarkable transition thanks to the popularity of our public lands, and the countless jobs that rely on our outdoor traditions.”
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