Brian Rowell Daily Press Michigan Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist purchases fishing lures from Katelyn Beaver, owner and operator of Beavers Lures in Escanaba. Gilchrist is on a tour of the Upper Peninsula to visit small businesses that enhance their communities.

ESCANABA — A downtown Escanaba business got a visit from Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist Friday morning. It’s part of an effort to visit various small businesses throughout the state and stress their importance to the state’s economy.

Gilchrist visited Beaver’s Lure, 914 Ludington Street. The business, owned and operated by Katelyn Beaver, specializes in custom fishing lures, as well as other fishing equipment and apparel. It was Gilchrist’s first stop in a visit to the Upper Peninsula. Stops were also planned in Alger County and the city of Marquette Friday.

Beaver showed Gilchrist her line of products and explained to him how and why she decided to open the fishing lure business, as well as her plans for the business in the future. She also told him about two impressive walleye she caught through the ice recently.

Gilchrist purchased several of the lures which he plans to give to his children to use during their first fishing trip.

Gilchrist called Beaver’s success “inspirational.”

Gilchrist said Beaver’s Lures is one of many small businesses he is visiting throughout the state. He said Beaver’s Lures adds to the vitality of Escanaba and the downtown area, and demonstrates the importance of small businesses.

Gilchrist also stopped at OSF St. Francis Hospital and thanked workers for their efforts during the pandemic.