Political Career

In 1994 Rickenbacher was elected in the Grand Council of the Canton of Berne (Parliament, partial mandate). From 1994 to 2000 he was a member of the Finance Committee. In 1996 he co-founded the Biel-Seeland Chamber of Commerce (WIBS). In 2006, he was elected by the people of the Canton of Berne in the government (executive, full mandate). Until his departure from that office in June 2016, he acted as the Head of the Department of Economic Affairs of the said Canton.



In 2009 he was one of the co-founders of Greater Geneva Berne Area (GGBa), the economic promotion agency of the cantons of Western Switzerland. In 2011 he was elected to the Board of Directors of the Conference of Heads of Departments of Economic Affairs (VDK) (association of all members of Switzerland’s cantonal governments who are in charge of Cantons’ economic matters). He presided over the said conference from 2013 until he left the office.



In 2012 he founded the marketing company BE! Tourism Ltd together with the tourist destinations of the Canton of Berne and joined the Board of Directors of the said company.



In 2015 Rickenbacher was one of the co-founders of the foundation Switzerland Innovation. He was vice president of this foundation until the end of 2021 and president from 2022 on.



In mid-2016 he stepped down from his position as Head of Department of Economic Affairs of Canton of Bern.