Tributes paid to Hydro, Inc.’s president and founder.
George F. Harris, president and founding father of Hydro, Inc.
Hydro, Inc. has announced the passing of its president and founder, George F. Harris, on December twentieth, 2021.
weksler ea14 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 graduation, he worked at several main pump corporations as an application engineer and regional manager.
In 1969, Harris was one of the four engineers who based Hydro, Inc. with the mission of providing engineering providers to the pump aftermarket trade. From the beginning, 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 shop in Chicago; beneath Harris’s management and vision Hydro grew to become the biggest impartial aftermarket pump company in the world. 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 dedicated to the shopper. He helped develop applications for buyer schooling in pump processes, believing that the knowledge of the way to safely maintain and operate pumps was one thing that ought to be shared with everyone. He spearheaded many innovations in the way pumps are serviced, using state-of-the-art know-how to re-engineer pumps for maximum effectivity.
Harris is survived by his wife of fifty six years, Rita, who he met whereas at the University of Illinois. She later turned vice chairman of Hydro, and they worked side-by-side to make the corporate preeminent in the trade. Their leadership was characterised by a particular dedication to their employees, who they treated like household. They encouraged all service centres to honour Hydro’s staff with month-to-month worker celebrations and an annual Employee Appreciation Week. As he once said: “Hydro grew to become the corporate it did because of the dedication of our individuals – machinists, mechanics, engineers, administrative and sales employees – who all share a pivotal function in serving our prospects.”
The tradition of care and loyalty nurtured by the Harrises impressed admiration and esteem in all of Hydro’s staff, many of whom have labored 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 largest association of pump business producers in North America. In 2015, Europump awarded him its President’s Silver Award in recognition of his valuable contributions to the pump industry.
Bob Jennings, Corporate Trainer, pays a personal tribute:
“I began with HydroAire in 1976 and shortly discovered that George Harris was the consummate protagonist who at all times expected greater than individuals had been keen to provide. As an worker, I discovered rapidly that half-hearted measures had been unacceptable and an angle of ‘good enough” was by no means tolerated. To assume that he took a rag-tag group of 5 street-wise salesmen and turned the company into a worldwide organization with 19 facilities worldwide is an incredible accomplishment. It took onerous work, lengthy hours, a “never say never” mindset, and teamwork to grow the corporate as he did. He needed to be one of the best, he wanted the company to be one of the best, and he wanted each of his staff to be their greatest.
George was a gifted individual who had the uncanny capacity to “see over the horizon” and will glimpse the longer term wants of the industry long earlier than others had digested final week’s changes.
There was also a side of George that most individuals never had the opportunity to see: As tenacious a businessman as he was, he was equally generous and caring to those within the “Hydro Family.” George and Rita at all times handled their staff as “adopted sons and daughters” and they personally bore the burden of knowing that their business choices not only have an result on the corporate however the well-being and security of their staff and their families as properly.
George will be deeply missed, but his legacy will stay on. He hired what he thought of the “best of breed” and those that shared his vision for the longer term, and the company is saturated with like-minded people who will proceed to grow the corporate nicely into the lengthy run.”
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