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 graduation, he worked at a number of major pump corporations as an software engineer and regional manager.
In 1969, Harris was one of many 4 engineers who founded Hydro, Inc. with the mission of offering engineering providers to the pump aftermarket business. From the start, Harris believed in enhancing the reliability and performance of pumps and encouraging innovation. He was later appointed as president of Hydro.
Hydro started with a single shop in Chicago; under Harris’s leadership and vision Hydro became the most important impartial aftermarket pump company on the planet. Today, Hydro stands proud with 15 service centres in nine international locations.
Harris was instrumental in defining the culture of Hydro: unbiased, engineering- and innovation-focused, and dedicated to the customer. He helped develop packages for buyer training in pump processes, believing that the data of how to safely keep 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 maximum effectivity.
Harris is survived by his spouse of fifty six years, Rita, who he met whereas at the University of Illinois. She later turned vp of Hydro, they usually worked side-by-side to make the corporate preeminent in the trade. Their leadership was characterised by a special dedication to their workers, who they treated like family. They inspired all service centres to honour Hydro’s staff with monthly employee celebrations and an annual Employee Appreciation Week. As he as soon as mentioned: “Hydro became the company it did because of the dedication of our people – machinists, mechanics, engineers, administrative and sales employees – who all share a pivotal position in serving our clients.”
The culture of care and loyalty nurtured by the Harrises inspired admiration and esteem in all of Hydro’s employees, lots of whom have labored at Hydro for greater than 20 years. Harris was additionally well-respected by his peers throughout the pump trade. In 2014, he was elected as president of the Hydraulic Institute, the biggest affiliation of pump trade manufacturers in North America. In 2015, Europump awarded him its President’s Silver Award in recognition of his priceless contributions to the pump industry.
Bob Jennings, Corporate Trainer, pays a private tribute:
“I started with HydroAire in 1976 and rapidly discovered that George Harris was the consummate protagonist who at all times expected more than folks had been keen to provide. As an employee, I learned quickly that half-hearted measures have been unacceptable and an perspective of ‘good enough” was never tolerated. To suppose that he took a rag-tag group of 5 street-wise salesmen and turned the corporate into a global organization with 19 amenities worldwide is a tremendous accomplishment. It took hard work, long hours, a “never say never” mindset, and teamwork to develop the company as he did. He wanted to be the most effective, he wanted the corporate to be the most effective, and he needed every of his workers to be their best.
George was a gifted individual who had the uncanny ability to “see over the horizon” and will glimpse the longer term wants of the business lengthy before others had digested final week’s changes.
There was also a aspect 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 in the “Hydro Family.” เกจวัดแก๊ส and Rita all the time treated their staff as “adopted sons and daughters” and so they personally bore the burden of knowing that their enterprise selections not only have an result on the company however the well-being and safety of their workers and their households as nicely.
George will be deeply missed, however his legacy will stay on. He employed what he considered the “best of breed” and those that shared his imaginative and prescient for the longer term, and the company is saturated with like-minded individuals who will continue to develop the company nicely into the future.”
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