Seed Award Spotlight: Frazier’s Fish House

In our “Seed Award Spotlight” series, we asked the Fall 2024 Seed Award winners about their experience as a food or farm entrepreneur, including the passion behind their business, and their vision for positive change in their community. This January, 18 Seed Award winners were chosen to receive seed funding totaling almost $250,000. These grants represent not just financial investment, but an acknowledgment of the vital role farms and food distributors play in advancing Michigan’s food value chain. 

Frazier’s Fish House is a tribal-owned commercial fishing business located in the scenic Great Lakes region of Epoufette, Michigan. Frazier’s Fish House has built an operation that spans local, state, and interstate markets, providing a variety of fish products, including fresh, frozen, smoked, and specialty items like jerky and dip. As a family-run business deeply connected to their community and heritage, they catch and process their fish and actively contribute to sustaining the local ecosystem and economy through responsible fishing practices. 

Keep reading to learn more about Frazier’s Fish House and how their commitment to quality and community involvement is making waves across the Great Lakes and beyond. 

Name: Debra & Dave Frazier
Business Name: Frazier’s Fish House

What does being selected as a Seed Award winner mean to you personally, and how does it reflect on the journey of your business so far?               

Being a new, family-owned small business, this award will allow us to take the next steps in expansion. Everything we have done so far has been in small stages, so receiving this award will help us push forward with the next stages that might not have been possible.              

In what ways will the Seed Award funding support your immediate and long-term business goals?

The award will help us add a larger fish processing space in the future months. Long-term, this will help speed up fish processing for our store and provide a higher quality product for the public. Expanding will also allow us to sell products at other retail locations and possibly online.         

Can you share your vision for the positive changes this award will enable you to make in your business and the broader community?               

We will be able to expand our facility. By adding a larger processing space, it will help increase our production and also potentially help to employ more people. This will also allow us to produce a larger variety of fresh and smoked fish products to sell at our store as well as other retail locations.   

What led you to start your business? What motivates you to do what you do?

Fishing has been in our family’s heritage for many years. Growing up around the fishing environment has given us a strong understanding of how the fish is caught, processed, and sold. Over the years, we have gained a strong understanding of providing the highest quality fish products possible. By starting Frazier’s Fish House, we have opened the opportunity for the community and surrounding areas to get fish products without traveling long distances.       

       

Want to try fresh fish from Fraizier’s Fish House? Visit their Facebook to find their Epoufette location and learn more about their products.