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 20th, 2021.
Born in Chicago in 1941, Harris came 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 labored at a quantity of major pump firms as an application engineer and regional supervisor.
In 1969, Harris was one of the 4 engineers who founded Hydro, Inc. with the mission of providing engineering providers to the pump aftermarket industry. From the start, Harris believed in improving the reliability and performance of pumps and encouraging innovation. He was later appointed as president of Hydro.
Hydro began with a single store in Chicago; under Harris’s management and imaginative and prescient Hydro turned the largest independent aftermarket pump firm on the planet. 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 shopper. He helped develop applications for customer schooling in pump processes, believing that the information of tips on how to safely preserve and operate pumps was one thing that should be shared with everyone. He spearheaded many inventions in the way pumps are serviced, using state-of-the-art technology to re-engineer pumps for max effectivity.
Harris is survived by his spouse of 56 years, Rita, who he met whereas on the University of Illinois. She later became vp of Hydro, and they labored side-by-side to make the company preeminent in the business. Their management was characterised by a special dedication to their staff, who they treated like household. They encouraged all service centres to honour Hydro’s staff with monthly worker celebrations and an annual Employee Appreciation Week. As he as soon as said: “Hydro grew to become the company it did due to the commitment of our people – machinists, mechanics, engineers, administrative and gross sales workers – 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 labored at Hydro for more than 20 years. Harris was also well-respected by his peers inside the pump trade. In 2014, he was elected as president of the Hydraulic Institute, the biggest association of pump trade producers in North America. In 2015, Europump awarded him its President’s Silver Award in recognition of his useful contributions to the pump trade.
Bob Jennings, Corporate Trainer, pays a personal tribute:
“I started with HydroAire in 1976 and shortly realized that George Harris was the consummate protagonist who all the time expected more than folks have been prepared to offer. As an employee, I discovered rapidly that half-hearted measures have been unacceptable and an perspective of ‘good enough” was by no means tolerated. To think that he took a rag-tag group of 5 street-wise salesmen and turned the company into a world organization with 19 facilities worldwide is a tremendous accomplishment. เกจวัดแรงดันเชื้อเพลิง took hard work, lengthy hours, a “never say never” mindset, and teamwork to develop the company as he did. He wished to be the best, he needed the company to be one of the best, and he wished every of his employees to be their finest.
George was a gifted individual who had the uncanny capacity to “see over the horizon” and could glimpse the long run needs of the industry lengthy before others had digested final week’s adjustments.
There was additionally a aspect of George that most people never had the opportunity to see: As tenacious a businessman as he was, he was equally beneficiant and caring to those in the “Hydro Family.” George and Rita at all times treated their workers as “adopted sons and daughters” they usually personally bore the burden of figuring out that their enterprise decisions not only affect the company however the well-being and safety of their staff and their households as properly.
George will be deeply missed, however his legacy will live on. He hired what he considered the “best of breed” and those who shared his vision for the future, and the company is saturated with like-minded people who will proceed to develop the company well into the long run.”
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