TECHNICIAN TUESDAY: James Brown

For this week’s #TechTuesday, we headed over to West Herr Subaru Orchard Park to meet Technician James Brown. James has been with West Herr for almost 5 years. James did not always know that he wanted to work in the automotive industry. James always knew that he liked figuring out how things work and go together.

He started at Erie Community College as an Architecture major and then realized that wasn’t right for him. He then switched to the general automotive program at ECC and he knew he was heading in the right direction for him. He then found the SEACO Program that partners with West Herr, and it was the perfect fit for him. “Vinny Livardi took me under his wing and got me in the door and started at the SEACO Program.” After finishing this 2 years program, he began working full time at West Herr.

When asked about his favorite memory working at West Herr, James said, “I just like hanging out with all the guys here.” James also enjoys working at West Herr because of the size of the company, “Theres so many resources and there’s so many people around that are willing to help, I don’t know where else I would do as well as I do here,” said James. James’ favorite tool to work with is his electric ratchet. “It is the most used tool in my box and makes every job go by faster.” One thing James loves about his job is the satisfaction of fixing someone else’s car, “Knowing that you’re the person that makes it work again, it’s so satisfying.”

Outside of work James plays a lot of different sports. “I play hockey on the weekends, and I play disc golf sometimes as well.” When he is not playing sports or hanging out with friends, he enjoys riding his dirt bike or putting new parts on his car, a Subaru WRX. James has two Subarus, a Forester and a WRX.

James would like to give a shoutout to Tom Mazgaj, his mentor throughout his whole program and who is still here to help every day at the shop. “He’ll tell you, he’s still learning things to this day, and he’s been here for 30 years,” said James. With this mentality in mind, James knows that there is never going to be a point where you stop learning, so he enjoys being able to learn from Tom and others in the shop. James said, “Having knowledgeable people around you is such a good tool.”

Looking into the future James would like to be fully Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) certified within the year. He also would like to be Subaru Master Certified. He only has 5 more classes left to reach this certification and become a Subaru Master Technician. He enjoys working at Subaru and can see himself staying there for a while and even joked saying, “Owning two Subarus, working here helps me in the long run!”

A fun fact about James is that he won Rookie of the Year in his first year working at Subaru Orchard Park! With this, James won a vacation to Disney World for him and his girlfriend.

We are so lucky to have James on #TeamWestHerr and can’t wait to see all that he accomplishes!