23 Facts About Andy Berke

Andrew Lawrence Berke was born on March 31,1968 and is an American attorney and politician from Tennessee.

Andy Berke served as the mayor of Chattanooga from 2013 to 2021.

Andy Berke was re-elected on March 7,2017, and served until April 19,2021, when he was succeeded by Tim Kelly.

On October 6,2022, President Joe Biden appointed Andy Berke to serve as administrator of the Rural Utilities Service at the US Department of Agriculture.

Andy Berke attended Rivermont Elementary and Baylor School in Chattanooga, where he was a standout tennis player, and Stanford University, where he met his wife, Monique.

Andy Berke returned home to Chattanooga and was admitted to the Tennessee Bar in 1994.

Andy Berke joined his family law practice, Berke, Berke, and Berke in Chattanooga, which was founded in 1934 by his grandfather Harry Berke.

Andy Berke was sworn into the Tennessee Senate on November 21,2007.

On November 24,2008, Andy Berke was elected secretary and treasurer of the Senate Democratic Caucus.

On May 8,2012, Andy Berke announced his candidacy for Mayor of Chattanooga.

On July 14,2014, Andy Berke joined other local and state officials to announce that the Volkswagen Crossblue would be manufactured in Chattanooga, resulting in over 2,000 new jobs for residents.

On January 14,2015, Andy Berke established an Innovation District, making Chattanooga the first midsized city with an innovation district.

Under Andy Berke, Chattanooga has received national recognition for its work in digital equity.

In 2016, Andy Berke announced new efforts to combat violence, including investments in public safety technology and a new Citizen Safety Coalition, a new Office of Early learning, a partnership with United Way to offer early learning scholarships, and a Family Friendly Workplace challenge to get more businesses to adopt policies making their business more friendly for working parents.

Andy Berke announced new investments in neighborhoods, including $6 million for a new Youth and Family Development center in Avondale, $887,000 for a new park at the former Charles A Bell School site in Alton Park, $1.5 million for the cleanup of the old Dixie Yarn Mill in Lupton City, completed $2 million in upgrades of the Wilcox Tunnel in East Chattanooga, and the construction of a new Miller Park District as the gateway to the MLK Neighborhood.

On September 6,2016, Andy Berke announced his bid for re-election to a second term as mayor.

Andy Berke's announcement focused on combating gun violence, enhancing workforce development, and expanding the city's focus on early childhood education.

Andy Berke was sworn in to his second term on April 18,2017.

On September 23,2019, Andy Berke stood alongside Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger and other officials to announce "East Chattanooga Rising," an initiative to convert the former Harriet Tubman Homes site into a mixed-use development anchored by an automotive paint manufacturing facility.

In 2018, Andy Berke charged the Office of Early Learning with adding 1,000 high-quality "seats", or accessible, affordable spots for children who needed them, before the conclusion of his second term.

The Andy Berke administration launched programs to connect homebound senior citizens with health resources, support struggling small businesses and improve community testing, and focus on meeting the unique needs of Chattanooga's Spanish-speaking and Black populations throughout the spring, summer, and fall of 2020.

In January 2021, Andy Berke's office honored the hundreds of lives lost to the virus with COVID-19 Memorial Project, a website that invites community members to publicly share photos, stories, and words of inspiration about their lost loved ones.

Andy Berke serves on the board of advisors for Let America Vote, an organization founded by former Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander that aims to end voter suppression and is an advisory board member of Communities Overcoming Extremism: The After Charlottesville Project, formed in the aftermath of the August 2017 attacks in Charlottesville, Virginia.