Matthew Tuerk

Matthew Tuerk (born March 18, 1975) is an American politician and economic development official serving as the mayor of Allentown, Pennsylvania since January 2022. Despite entering a crowded field with low name recognition, Tuerk became the first candidate to defeat an incumbent mayor in an Allentown primary since 1973. Tuerk is the city's first Latino mayor. Previously, he held positions in the Allentown Economic Development Corporation (AEDC) and the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC). Early life and education Matthew Tuerk was born in 1975 in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. His grandmother was a Cuban immigrant who settled in East Stroudsburg in 1946. Tuerk was raised speaking English but was surrounded by Cuban traditions and food during his childhood. His family moved from East Stroudsburg to Boulder, Colorado in 1984. Tuerk earned a BS degree in International Business from the College of Charleston, and received an MBA with a concentration in international economic development from the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. He minored in Spanish and Latin American studies, during which time became particularly interested in Latino culture, learning to speak Spanish and traveling to Latin America. He spent four years working for an outdoor advertising company in Panama, and later also spent some time in Nicaragua. In 2004, Tuerk and his wife Karen returned to Pennsylvania and moved to Allentown. Career Tuerk became an assistant director of the Allentown Economic Development Corporation (AEDC) in 2008 and spent five years with the organization. During his time there, Tuerk helped establish the Urban Manufacturing Alliance, a coalition of cities dedicated to strengthening their manufacturing economies. He also co-founded Make Lehigh Valley, the region's first "hackerspace" located at AEDC's Bridgeworks Enterprise Center business incubator.