75 Years of Connecting Communities

For 75 years, BEK Communications Cooperative has connected people, strengthened communities, and continued to evolve with the technology our members depend on. Throughout our 75th anniversary year, we’re celebrating where we started, the people who brought us here, and the legacy we’re building for generations to come.

75 Years. A Lasting Legacy.

Trivia Challenge

Put your BEK knowledge to the test! Answer a new trivia question each week for your chance to win.

Flashback Friday

Explore 75 years of BEK through stories, photos, milestones, and memorable moments.

Mini Docuseries

Meet the people and discover the moments that helped shape BEK—from our cooperative beginnings to today.

Time Capsule

We’re preserving pieces of BEK’s past and present to tell our story when the capsule is reopened at our 100th anniversary.

Flashback Friday

Every Friday, we’re opening the archives to revisit the people, places, technology and moments that shaped BEK. Check back each week for a new Flashback!

1950-1952

It Started With an Idea

In the late 1940s, rural North Dakotans faced a challenge: how could they bring telephone service to communities the larger companies weren’t reaching?

Flashback…

1954

First Telephone Exchange Purchase

In 1954, BEK purchased its first telephone exchange. And in doing so, made North Dakota cooperative history.

Flashback…

1954

Small Beginnings, Big Moves

In 1954, BEK didn’t even have its own office. But with big plans and a growing community behind it, the cooperative was about to take off.

Flashback…

The Stories Behind 75 Years

BEK’s story is ultimately a story about people. Our 75th Anniversary Miniseries looks back at the individuals, ideas and moments that helped transform a rural telephone cooperative into the organization BEK is today.

Episode 1 | Neil Beitselspacher

How Well Do You Know BEK?

Test your knowledge of BEK’s people, history, communities and technology as we count down to our 75th Annual Meeting.

A new question every week, and a chance to win fun prizes!

PLAY

The Celebration Continues

Our anniversary celebration leads up to the 75th BEK Annual Meeting in June 2027, where we’ll celebrate 75 years with the members who made it possible.

Attendees will also receive a special 75th anniversary commemorative keepsake.

75 Years. Countless Connections. One Lasting Legacy.

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1950-1952

1954

1954

It Started With an Idea

In the late 1940s, it became evident that getting telephone service to rural North Dakota was going to be a challenge and that providing the service would lie in the hands of farmers, ranchers, and small-town residents. People like George and Frances Jackson, who had never had telephone service became a major driving force behind this. So, in December of 1950, Jackson spoke with a group of county extension agents and suggested that the farmers of Burleigh, Emmons, and Kidder Counties form a rural telephone company. The first attempt of forming such a company was made in August of 1951. Just a year later, BEK Communications Cooperative began.

First Telephone Exchange Purchase

One year after BEK officially became a recognized cooperative in 1952, the Board secured its first loan to bring telephone service to 529 subscribers in its rural service area. The amount of the loan was $371,000. The agreement also allowed for available funds in the amount of $5 million to be used as requested and approved for future construction. The following February in 1954, BEK acquired its first telephone property with the purchase of the Hazelton Exchange. By November of that year, the 53 miles of line and 101 subscribers included in the purchase officially became the property of BEK. The purchase made BEK the first cooperative in the state to complete this type of negotiation.

Small Beginnings, Big Moves

In 1954, BEK had been in operation for two years. It was the same year the cooperative received the honor of becoming the first member of the National Telephone Cooperative Association. BEK was preparing to expand, so office space became necessary. The city of Steele provided that space rent-free at the Steele Community Building. By December of 1954, BEK received a $1.5 million government loan to begin construction that would connect 1,700 subscribers in Dawson, Hazelton, Kintyre, Moffit, Pettibone, Robinson, Tuttle, Wing, and an area between Menoken and McKenzie. Growth was taking off!