hen Zachary Werner was a little boy, he wanted to work with his grandfather someday.

"Growing up here with my grandfather has been a real blessing," he said.But David Werner retired in 2008, after more than 30 years as a financial planner. Zachary was still in high school.Things changed though about eight years into retirement."I was enjoying retirement, until called back to duty," David said. He decided to go into business with his grandson.Werner, Werner & Associates recently celebrated its grand opening with family, friends and members of the Carbon Chamber and Economic Development Corp."I'm very blessed to have him as a mentor. I'm very grateful for that," Zachary said.Like his mother, grandfather and grandmother before him, Zachary graduated from Lehighton High School. He went to Lehigh Carbon Community College and worked at the Carbon County Communications Center."Going to school and working full-time made me appreciate my education much more," he said.From there, Zachary transferred to Muhlenberg College in Allentown, earned a bachelor's degree in business administration in 2015, and got a job in a bank. But something was missing."I always knew I wanted to be in financial planning," he said.After his grandmother passed away in January, Zachary approached his grandfather about opening the old office. He said he felt like it was something his grandmother would have wanted."My nan's favorite thing was birds," Zachary said. Their logo is two white birds with a Lehighton maroon-colored bird in the middle."She's holding us together," he said.Officially, David is the financial planner, while Zachary works to complete the last steps to his licensing. After passing one more test this month, he can call himself a financial planner."Seeing people reach their financial goals in life and retire when they want to retire," is why Zachary wants to be a financial planner, he said. "I honestly couldn't ask for a better job."His grandfather added, "I never felt like I was working."As a multigenerational office, the two men rely on each other's strengths. David has a lifetime of experience, while Zachary has the knowledge and experience of working with new technology and social media."It's really a nice mixture," David said. "Zach has technical skills. He's outstanding in that area.""My pap was really great about getting the business together," Zachary said. "It's about building relationships. I learned that from my pap."There are many benefits to multi-generations working together in the office, said Jennifer Cerato, a certified life coach with Bridging Harmony Coaching. Each group of people have strengths and although these are often different from the other, they can be a positive influence on each other.Cerato said baby boomers, who were born around 1946 to about 1964, prefer face-to-face interactions, and are accustomed to following established policies like the 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. workday."They come in, do their jobs and go home to their families," she said. That is just how it is.Although not present in the Werner office, Gen X employees, who were born between about 1965 and 1981, are comfortable with computers and technology, but still remember finding answers in books. Having been "latchkey kids," they look for solutions. In the workplace, they are open to ideas different from the standard 9-to-5.Zachary's generation, the Millennials, were born around 1982 to 2000. They are the Google people, Cerato said. When they need an answer or want a new way of doing something, Millennials "Google it." Why reinvent what someone else has already thought of to do?"Millennials are the computer age. They email everyone; text everyone," she said. "They like to work from home and work schedules that work for them."As a life coach for individuals and businesses, Cerato said her job isn't to give people answers to their problems, but instead ask them the right questions so they can discover solutions that work for them and move past the problems."My goal is to go in and promote ways they can communicate and be productive," she said.Fortunately for David and Zachary, they admire and value each other's contributions.More information about Bridging Harmony Coaching can be found at

www.bridgingharmonycoaching.com. And to contact Werner, Werner and Associates, call 610- 577-6619. The office is at 625 Interchange Road, Lehighton.