TECHNICIAN TUESDAY: Grace Bernhardt

For this week’s Technician Tuesday, we head over to West Herr Collision Center and Auto Glass Henrietta to meet Apprentice Collision Technician, Grace Bernhardt. Grace joined Team West Herr in October of 2024!

Grace has always liked working on cars, specifically on the artistic side, such as body work. She went to a trade school for a year and joined a program at BOCES, which eventually lead her to starting at West Herr. This is Grace’s first gig doing body work on cars.

Grace says she has always admired West Herr’s values and what they’ve stood for, “I’ve always heard good things about how people have been treated coming to West Herr.” She was able to land this current position through connections with her teacher in school.

In her free time, Grace is an “avid” horseback rider of 10 years and has had her own horse, Tuxedo, for two years. Grace wakes up at 2:30 a.m. every morning to work in the barn, before heading to the Collision Center at about 6:30 a.m., and once again heading back to the barn after work. She also participates with Tuxedo in show jumping!

When asked if she wanted to acknowledge any mentors that have helped on her journey, Grace wanted to thank her original general manager, John Furey, who helped get her settled at the location. She also wanted to shout out Anthony Chatelle for being an amazing mentor to her.

When discussing her future as a technician, Grace says she wants to get more into welding and putting panels onto cars. One tool that she says she cannot live without is her cordless ratchet.

Her favorite part about her job is that it’s one big puzzle. “I think it’s really satisfying to take it apart, fix it up, and kind of see your end product and how it turns out,” Grace mentioned.

Grace is such an asset, and we are so lucky to have her on #TeamWestHerr! Keep up the great work, Grace!

If you or someone you know is interested in applying to West Herr to join our awesome technician team, you can find more information over on our careers page.