SHAWN BERGER

Biography

 

I’m Shawn Berger, born October 2nd 1983 in Palmerton, Pennsylvania, where I still live to this day. I grew up with my parents, two brothers, and one sister. We all learned the concept of hard work from a young age, since my family was 3rd generation asphalt black toppers. At the age of twenty I started my own business, VIP Landscaping. I have since opened more businesses from Berger’s Construction to American Environmental Vacuum Truck Service, which I still currently own along with my restaurant in Wind Gap, American Lobster.

My wife Vanessa and I have been married for 10 years and have two daughters, ages 7 and 10. My wife is an LPN who’s worked in nursing homes and psychiatric wards. She is an active member of Nurses of PA, which is an organization whose goal is to “unite and advocate for safe staffing, quality care, and a voice for nurses.”

Our daughters both attend a Catholic School in the Diocese of Allentown. In 2019 their school only had 60 students and was on the brink of closing. They needed at least 80 students to remain open. I got my marketing team together, designed a webpage, redesigned the school’s facebook page, and promoted the heck out of it until they got to 80 students. However, the Diocese suddenly decided 80 wasn’t good enough to stay open, so I again boosted the school’s popularity and we got the attendance increased to 90. The Diocese continued to claim it wasn’t enough, and I continued working toward raising the school’s awareness to the point where they got so many students they had to create a waiting list.

In December of 2020 when I opened my restaurant, American Lobster, Governor Wolf threatened to shut us down. My employees were depressed and full of anxiety, unsure how they would pay their bills or be able to afford Christmas for their kids. I took one look at them and I told them, “We’re not closing and we are going to have the best damn Christmas ever”. Well, since we were one of the only restaurants who stayed open for indoor dining, hungry customers flooded in and voted with their dollar. Business went up by 400%. We received threatening letters from the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, claiming they were going to sue us if we didn’t shut our doors. Thankfully, donations were made by patriots to help local restaurants fight against these lawsuits, and we were able to hire an attorney to speak on our behalf. The lawsuit never made it to court and we gained some amazing, loyal customers from our act of bravery and defiance.  Overall, I’d say we won.

This series of events is what pushed me to run for governor. I must ensure that the people’s constitutional rights will not be infringed again, and as a true outsider and businessman who wasn’t afraid to say no to Wolf and keep my employees free to work, you know I will stay true to my word. With my unique ideas, I have the ability to change the path and redirect Pennsylvania to a better economy with more freedom, higher quality education, thriving economical gain, increased agriculture, and an overall a more united and peaceful state.

For life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,

Shawn Berger