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 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 several major pump companies 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 companies to the pump aftermarket business. 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 vision Hydro turned the largest independent aftermarket pump company on the planet. Today, Hydro stands proud with 15 service centres in nine 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 data of tips on how to safely preserve and operate pumps was something that should be shared with everybody. He spearheaded many innovations in the method in which pumps are serviced, utilizing state-of-the-art know-how to re-engineer pumps for max efficiency.
Harris is survived by his wife of fifty six years, Rita, who he met whereas on the University of Illinois. She later grew to become vice chairman of Hydro, and so they labored side-by-side to make the corporate preeminent within the industry. เครื่องมือที่ใช้ในการวัดความดัน was characterised by a particular commitment to their workers, who they handled like family. They encouraged all service centres to honour Hydro’s workers with month-to-month employee celebrations and an annual Employee Appreciation Week. As he once mentioned: “Hydro became the company it did because of the commitment of our individuals – machinists, mechanics, engineers, administrative and sales workers – who all share a pivotal position in serving our prospects.”
The culture of care and loyalty nurtured by the Harrises impressed admiration and esteem in all of Hydro’s staff, lots of whom have worked at Hydro for more than 20 years. Harris was additionally 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 industry producers in North America. In 2015, Europump awarded him its President’s Silver Award in recognition of his useful contributions to the pump industry.
Bob Jennings, Corporate Trainer, pays a private tribute:
“I began with HydroAire in 1976 and shortly learned that George Harris was the consummate protagonist who at all times expected more than folks were prepared to offer. As an worker, I learned shortly that half-hearted measures have been unacceptable and an attitude 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 worldwide group with 19 services 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 wished to be the most effective, he needed the corporate to be the best, and he wished every of his workers to be their finest.
George was a gifted individual who had the uncanny capacity to “see over the horizon” and could glimpse the lengthy run needs of the trade long earlier than others had digested last week’s modifications.
There was additionally a facet 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 those in the “Hydro Family.” George and Rita always handled their staff as “adopted sons and daughters” and so they personally bore the burden of understanding that their business choices not only affect the company however the well-being and security of their staff and their families as properly.
George shall be deeply missed, however his legacy will stay on. He employed what he considered the “best of breed” and people who shared his imaginative and prescient for the future, and the company is saturated with like-minded individuals who will proceed to grow the corporate properly into the future.”
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