Behind the Board: A Conversation with Holly Will

Holly Will is a busy lady. When Hazelton resident is not attending to her fourth-generation cattle ranch and helping customers at the local community bank, she serves District III of BEK Communications as a Board Director. Some might say she’s one of the quiet forces behind the cooperative’s commitment to rural communities.

Holly’s life is the kind that defines rural North Dakota. For more than eight years, she has worked at the Bank of Hazelton, where she knows her customers by name and understands firsthand the financial realities facing families and small businesses in the region. Outside of banking hours, she and her husband Jeremy work the land their family has farmed for four generations, a cattle operation southwest of Hazelton that reflects everything Holly believes in: hard work, legacy, and taking care of what matters.

Home is full, too, in the best possible way. Holly and Jeremy recently celebrated 25 years of marriage, and their two daughters are carving out paths of their own. Their eldest, Cassidy, was married in February and lives with her husband in Fargo. Their youngest, Addison, will be a senior at Hazelton-Moffit-Braddock High School this fall.

When asked why she wanted to serve on the BEK Board of Directors, Holly doesn’t hesitate.

“I care about the long-term success of our rural communities,” she says, “and I understand how important dependable broadband service is for families, businesses, agriculture, education, and emergency services.” She has proudly served at a Director since 2022.

For Holly, serving on the board isn’t about a title — it’s about responsibility. She believes the cooperative has an obligation to keep investing in its future so that people in rural areas have the same opportunities and connectivity as those in larger cities. It’s a belief shaped by lived experience: she has seen what unreliable internet means for a farm operation, a small business, a student trying to learn, or a family trying to reach emergency services on a dark country road.

Holly’s advice to members who want to be more engaged is simple and sincere: show up, speak up, and remember that your voice matters. “One of the strengths of a cooperative is that it’s member-owned,” she says, “so every member has a voice and the opportunity to be involved.”

She believes strongly that the best cooperatives are built on open communication and active participation and that the more engaged members are, the better BEK can serve its communities for generations to come. She encourages every member to attend the annual meeting to stay informed on the cooperative’s current status, and she means it when she says her door is open.

“As always, reach out to me with any questions or concerns,” she says. “That’s what I’m here for.”