Tim Kelly (born April 3, 1967) is an American politician and businessman who serves as the 74th mayor of

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

. He defeated Kim White in the runoff election held on April 13, 2021, by a margin of 15,966 to 10,661.

Early life and education

Tim Kelly was born on April 3, 1967, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Betty Sue and Patrick Kelly. Kelly is a 1985 graduate of

Baylor School Baylor School, commonly called Baylor, is a private, coeducational college-preparatory school in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Founded in 1893, the school currently sits atop a 690-acre campus and enrolls students in grades 6-12, including boarding stu ...

in Chattanooga. He was a John Jay Scholar, and majored in German Comparative Literature at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, graduating in 1989. At Columbia, he was a roommate of

Brent Forrester Brent Forrester is an American writer and producer, who has written for 6 Emmy Award-winning television comedies. He wrote several episodes of the animated television sitcom ''The Simpsons'' between 1993 and 1997. He has worked as a writer on ''T ...

, who went on to become a writer of ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...

'' and showrunner of popular shows such as ''The Office''. After graduating, he returned to Chattanooga, where he began working and eventually took over the family's auto dealerships. Kelly returned to school in 2012, earning his M.B.A at

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Business career

After graduating from college, Tim Kelly took over his family's car business in Chattanooga, which consisted of a

Cadillac The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed i ...

and

SAAB Saab or SAAB may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Saab Group, a Swedish aerospace and defence company, formerly known as SAAB, and later as Saab AB ** Datasaab, a former computer company, started as spin off from Saab AB * Saab Automobile, a fo ...

dealership. He added a

Subaru ( or ; ) is the automaker, automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate (company), conglomerate Subaru Corporation (formerly known as Fuji Heavy Industries), the Automotive industry#By manufacturer, twenty-first ...

dealership during his first year in business, and later began selling

GMC Truck GMC (formerly the General Motors Truck Company (1911–1943), or the GMC Truck & Coach Division (1943–1998)) is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that primarily focuses on trucks and utility vehicles. GMC c ...

Hummer Hummer (stylized as HUMMER) is a brand of pickups and SUVs that was first marketed in 1992 when AM General began selling a civilian version of the M998 Humvee. Although discontinued in 2010, Hummer returned as a sub-brand of GMC in 2020. ...

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...

s, and

Infiniti is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Nissan. Infiniti officially started selling vehicles on November 8, 1989, in North America. The marketing network for Infiniti-branded vehicles included dealers in over 50 countries in ...

s. In 2001 he founded

Polaris Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris ( Latinized to ''Alpha Ursae Minoris'') and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. With an apparent magnitude that ...

of Chattanooga, and in 2003 he started Southern

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

Powersports. He later created the Zipflip and SocialBot apps. Kelly had taken on several roles in Chattanooga community organizations including sitting on the boards of the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce, the Community Foundation, Benwood, and the River City Company. Kelly is also a trustee of the Baylor School.

Chattanooga FC

In 2009 Kelly co-founded the

Chattanooga FC Chattanooga Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 2009, the team began play in the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA) in Spring 2020. Prior to joining the NISA ...

along with Krue Brock, Marshall Brock, Paul Rustand, Sean McDaniel, Daryl Heald, Hamilton Brock, Thomas Clark, and Sheldon Grizzle. The team was founded to play in the

National Premier Soccer League The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) is an American men's association football, soccer league. The NPSL is a semi-professional league, comprising some teams that have paid players and some that are entirely amateur. The league is officially ...

(NPSL), the fourth tier of the American soccer pyramid and considered roughly equal to the USL Premier Development League. Kelly was integral in organizing the first public stock offering of any American soccer team using the securities reform laws passed in late 2016 that allowed such investments. Under Kelly's direction, Chattanooga Football Club is the only major team other than the Green Bay Packers to offer common stock to the public. Chattanooga FC exceeded the $500,000 mark in public funding in February 2019. 44% of people with stock are from outside the Chattanooga metro area and come from 44 states and ten different countries.

Mayor of Chattanooga

Kelly announced his intention to run for mayor on May 21, 2020, to succeed then-incumbent

Andy Berke Andrew Lawrence Berke (born March 31, 1968) is an American attorney and politician from Tennessee. He served as the mayor of Chattanooga from 2013 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Hamilton and Marion counties in the 1 ...

, who was term-limited. On March 2, 2021, Kelly received 30% of the votes cast in the general election, the highest number of votes of the 15 candidates in the race. Kelly won the mayoral

runoff election The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resul ...

against Kim White on April 13, 2021, with 60% of the votes. He was inaugurated on April 19, 2021. Kelly has stated that he does not identify with any political party.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Tim 1967 births Living people 21st-century American businesspeople 21st-century American politicians Businesspeople from Tennessee Columbia College (New York) alumni Emory University alumni Mayors of Chattanooga, Tennessee Tennessee Independents