Tributes paid to Hydro, Inc.’s president and founder.
George F. Harris, president and founding father of Hydro, Inc.
Hydro, Inc. has introduced the passing of its president and founder, George F. Harris, on December twentieth, 2021.
Born in Chicago in 1941, Harris got here from humble beginnings, working as a waiter and a taxi driver. He attended the University of Illinois at Champaign and graduated with a Bachelor of Science diploma in Engineering. After commencement, he worked at a number of major pump companies as an application engineer and regional supervisor.
In 1969, Harris was one of many 4 engineers who based Hydro, Inc. with the mission of providing engineering providers to the pump aftermarket trade. From the beginning, Harris believed in bettering the reliability and efficiency of pumps and encouraging innovation. He was later appointed as president of Hydro.
Hydro began with a single store in Chicago; beneath Harris’s leadership and imaginative and prescient Hydro grew to become the biggest unbiased aftermarket pump firm on the earth. Today, Hydro stands proud with 15 service centres in 9 nations.
Harris was instrumental in defining the culture of Hydro: unbiased, engineering- and innovation-focused, and devoted to the client. He helped develop programs for buyer schooling in pump processes, believing that the information of the method to safely keep and operate pumps was something that must be shared with everybody. He spearheaded many inventions in the greatest way pumps are serviced, using state-of-the-art expertise to re-engineer pumps for maximum efficiency.
Harris is survived by his spouse of fifty six years, Rita, who he met while on the University of Illinois. She later turned vice chairman of Hydro, and they worked side-by-side to make the company preeminent in the industry. Their leadership was characterised by a special dedication to their workers, who they treated like family. They encouraged all service centres to honour Hydro’s staff with monthly worker celebrations and an annual Employee Appreciation Week. As he once mentioned: “Hydro became the company it did because of the dedication of our folks – machinists, mechanics, engineers, administrative and sales staff – who all share a pivotal position in serving our customers.”
The culture of care and loyalty nurtured by the Harrises inspired admiration and esteem in all of Hydro’s staff, many of whom have worked at Hydro for greater than 20 years. Harris was also well-respected by his friends throughout the pump business. In 2014, he was elected as president of the Hydraulic Institute, the most important affiliation of pump trade producers in North America. In 2015, Europump awarded him its President’s Silver Award in recognition of his valuable contributions to the pump business.
Bob Jennings, Corporate Trainer, pays a personal tribute:
“I began with HydroAire in 1976 and quickly learned that George Harris was the consummate protagonist who always expected greater than individuals were willing to offer. As an worker, I realized shortly that half-hearted measures have been unacceptable and an attitude of ‘good enough” was by no means tolerated. To suppose that he took a rag-tag group of 5 street-wise salesmen and turned the company into a world organization with 19 services worldwide is an amazing accomplishment. It took hard work, lengthy hours, a “never say never” mindset, and teamwork to grow the company as he did. He wished to be the best, he wanted the corporate to be the most effective, and he wanted every of his employees to be their finest.
George was a gifted particular person who had the uncanny capability to “see over the horizon” and could glimpse the lengthy run wants of the industry long earlier than others had digested final week’s modifications.
There was also a side of George that most people by no means had the chance to see: As tenacious a businessman as he was, he was equally generous and caring to these within the “Hydro Family.” George and Rita always handled their staff as “adopted sons and daughters” and they personally bore the burden of knowing that their business decisions not solely have an result on the company however the well-being and security of their staff and their families as nicely.
George shall be deeply missed, however his legacy will reside on. pressure gauge employed what he considered the “best of breed” and those that shared his vision for the longer term, and the company is saturated with like-minded individuals who will proceed to grow the corporate properly into the lengthy run.”
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