J. Blacklock Wills, Jr.

Executive Chairman

Blacklock (“Lock”) Wills, Jr. serves as Executive Chairman of the Board for the Wills Group.

Elected to the Wills Group Board of Directors in 1985, Lock has served as Board Chairman for the past 37 years. He previously served as President and CEO for 28 years.

As Executive Chairman, Lock continues his family’s long-standing tradition of giving back to the communities in which they live and operate their businesses. Lock led the design and launch of a new Corporate Community Engagement program to increase the company’s commitment to giving back and deepen its community impact. Thanks to the passion and commitment of its employees, the Wills Group has provided hundreds of employee volunteer hours and has donated over 5 million to nonprofit partners and local organizations.

Lock has also served in many civic leadership roles, including: the Maryland Economic Development Commission; the Charles County 350th Anniversary Committee; Town of La Plata Vision Committee; Past Director of the Mattawoman Creek Arts Center Board; Charles County Planning Commission; La Plata Centennial; Past Chairman of the Center of Business and Industry Fund Drive; Past Chairman of the Rotary Club of Charles County; Chairman of the American Heart Association, Business Campaign; Charles County Citizen’s Advisory, Committee for Comprehensive Plan; and the James C. Mitchell Health Center Fund Drive Committee.

A 1977 graduate of the University of Richmond, Lock also received his master’s degree in finance and investments from George Washington University in 1978. Lock and his wife, Michele, live in Port Tobacco, Maryland, not far from where he grew up, and have four sons, three daughters-in-law, and seven grandchildren.