From lineman’s son to leader

On stormy evenings in Mahnomen, Minnesota, young Tommy Houdek always had an ear open for the ring of his home’s special landline. It was the number the electric co-op would call to alert his dad, a Wild Rice Electric Cooperative lineworker, that a power outage needed attention.

“When I was about 10 years old, I remember answering that phone and yelling, ‘Dad, phone call! You got an outage!’” he recalled, smiling. “So, I say I've probably been working for the co-op much longer than people think.”

Houdek, who was (actually) hired in 2015 as Director of Member Services & Communications, can now reflect on that early crisis training as preparation for what was ahead. On July 15, he became the latest CEO of Wild Rice Electric, where his father had worked for 38 years before his retirement.

When Houdek ran into his dad for the first time following the announcement, they shared a strong handshake. And, of course, a celebratory hug. “He was proud, and I was just happy to make him proud,” the new CEO said.

Cooperative leadership wasn’t always the plan for the Minnesota kid. He earned his bachelor’s degree in mass communications from Bemidji State University and was soon hired by Target Corporation. He spent time in different areas of North Dakota and Minnesota before marrying his high school sweetheart, Amy, and moving back to their hometown of Mahnomen. There, he worked in marketing and promotions for Shooting Star Casino before he was offered a job at Mike’s Heating, where he spent 12 years learning about all sides of the business, from advertising to bookkeeping and sales.

The resume he had built aligned perfectly for an opportunity in 2015, when Wild Rice Electric was looking for its next Director of Member Services & Communications.

“I talked to my dad about it. He said co-ops were a great place to work, and I’d be foolish not to at least give it a shot,” Houdek said.

He was hired and immediately got to work. Over the next decade, Houdek, along with his team, fine-tuned and elevated the co-op’s approach to energy programs, annual meetings, legislative advocacy and member engagement. They created moments for one-on-one time with member-owners through events at the cooperative, including Co-op Celebration Day, electric vehicle ride-and-drives and open houses. But they also made a concerted effort to meet members where they were: out in the community.

Under Houdek’s leadership, the member services department developed a social media strategy to engage members on the go, allowing Facebook followers to stay updated on programs, co-op happenings, outages and other items of note. They also formed community partnerships, including one with the local high school. On basketball game nights, the Wild Rice crew can be found giving away free popcorn, educating people about the Operation Round Up giving program and speaking about the benefits of co-op membership.

“Those opportunities have really been the most impactful,” Houdek said. “It's the interaction with the members. We’re able to listen to their needs, truly hear them in a face-to-face discussion and put it all into action with decisions that we can make at the co-op.”

Houdek also completed the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association’s Management Internship Program (MIP), a six-week, intensive training that prepares co-op employees to become co-op leaders. He wanted to continue growing within his role and be ready when a door opened.

The door cracked in early 2026, when Wild Rice Electric CEO Mike Wade announced his upcoming summer retirement. Houdek was sad to see a mentor leave, but he knew he’d been training for this chance. “I thought, ‘Why not me?’ I'm going to try for this, and I’m going to try to make my membership proud, my fellow employees proud and my board proud.”

Now, he has the chance to do just that.

“Tommy has a strong passion for serving the membership,” said outgoing CEO Mike Wade. “His background in member service and energy programs has prepared him well for leading a member-focused cooperative like Wild Rice Electric. He brings a strong work ethic and a lot of energy to the co-op, and he truly wants to make a difference in the communities we serve.”

Over his first months as CEO, Houdek plans to stay the course with important co-op initiatives, from overhead-to-underground line conversions to Wild Rice’s successful vegetation management program. He says his goal will be to give his team the resources they need to meet the members’ reliability expectations, which grow every year.

But as any good leader would attest, he believes the key to reaching long-term technical excellence is lifting up the humans who make it happen.

“I want to spark a good culture at the co-op and allow our employees to invite the membership into that culture as well,” Houdek said. “It takes every single employee and every single resource in order to make what we do happen, and our team is simply phenomenal.”