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'Retirement' Brings Plenty Of Projects At Alpaca Farm, Store

Published April 25, 2021

The Frosts, operators of Frost Farm Alpacas in Coloma, might want to reconsider their definition of "retired."

Jeanne Frost, one of three sisters, served in the Marines and then had a lengthy career in law enforcement. She wanted to find a hobby after retiring.

"I just thought I'd retire, and when my sisters moved back to the area to be closer, we'd do our little crafty projects together," Jeanne Frost said. "It had been almost 30 years since we had all been close together and we all have different talents."

Those crafty projects are now part of a major enterprise that includes an alpaca farm owned by Jeanne and her husband, Trace, and a store that features a wide assortment of handmade items. The farm itself has quite an entrepreneurial history. It has been owned by the Frost family for more than 100 years.

It all began when Carrie Frost bought the property in 1910. Unusual for the time, she was a successful female entrepreneur. Her business, the CJ Frost Fishing Tackle Company, a producer of fishing flies, began in 1896 in Stevens Point. By 1920, she had 150 employees. After selling the business to her brother, her next venture began at the farm.

When she wasn't assembling fly rods, Carrie raised raspberries and was one of the first to use irrigation. After she died in 1937, the farm went to her nephew, George Frost. In the late 1950s, George's son, Jack, started to raise mallard ducks at the farm. Frost Waterfowl Trust was a big success and it continued until several years after Jack's death in 1996.

In 2014, Trace, Jack's son, and Jeanne, began to repair the existing farm buildings that had been used to raise ducks. It was at that point that Jeanne began to have an interest in alpacas.

She said, "It came about because I met a friend of mine in De Pere who had alpacas and we got to talking, and the next thing I know I'm going up to her farm and learning all about alpacas and buying alpacas."

The farm that had raised hundreds of thousands of ducks was soon home to alpacas. It started with eight and now includes 14.

"I've always been good with animals and I've always enjoyed alpacas and wool," Jeanne said. "I knit and sew; my sisters do, also. We spin and weave; all of the crafty things. I had gotten the alpacas as a retirement hobby to keep me busy." But knowing about animals wasn't the same as knowing how to run a business. Along with her sister, Donna Grunow, Jeanne decided to attend the entrepreneurship program at the Fox Valley Technical College Venture Center.

"When we took the program, everything started to roll along," Jeanne said. "In one lesson, we'd learn about marketing and we'd get busy and work on marketing. All of the steps fell together as we went through the program."

A business plan was more challenging due to the lack of data on alpaca farms.

"You don't buy alpaca socks at a discount store," Jeanne quipped.

For information, they reached out to alpaca farm business owners and found them to be helpful in trying to put together projections. They learned about websites, social media, e-commerce, packaging, and the basics of running a store.

A store was constructed at the site of one of the former duck buildings, and it opened in May. Even though they opened in the midst of the pandemic, Jeanne said there were advantages.

"We did well with the farm visits because people were looking for things to do outdoors (due to restrictions on indoor activities). What better thing to do than go to an alpaca farm?" she asked.

Visits are a big part of the working alpaca farm (www.frostfarm.net) where Jeanne promises an education in all things alpaca. She explains how alpaca fiber gets to market and what products are made with it. People can touch the animals, take pictures, go on a tour, and shop.

The store sells alpaca fiber hats, socks, scarves, shawls, cowls, gloves, mittens, dryer balls, and felted soaps. Trace taps trees in the spring and sells maple syrup, and one of the sisters makes baskets.

When the alpacas are shorn each year (usually in May), the fiber is sent to a mill in Iowa for processing. The processor keeps track of the alpaca it comes from and when the yarn is packaged, a picture and name of the alpaca is included.

Jeanne says customers love that personal touch, and it is one of the ways she is using marketing to differentiate the farm. Her goals make for a busy retirement.

"I'd like to build the e-commerce, have more visitors and get more traffic for the store," Jeanne said. The website adds, "We would like to think that Carrie would be proud to know the farm she loved is still cherished by her family and being used to its fullest."

Tina Dettman-Bielefeldt is co-owner of DB Commercial Real Estate in Green Bay and past district director for SCORE, Wisconsin.

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Green Bay Press-Gazette

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