Tributes paid to Hydro, Inc.’s president and founder.
George F. Harris, president and founder of Hydro, Inc.
Hydro, Inc. has announced 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 digital pressure gauge , he labored at a quantity of main pump companies as an utility engineer and regional supervisor.
In 1969, Harris was one of many four engineers who founded Hydro, Inc. with the mission of offering engineering providers to the pump aftermarket trade. From the start, Harris believed in improving the reliability and performance of pumps and inspiring innovation. He was later appointed as president of Hydro.
Hydro started with a single store in Chicago; beneath Harris’s management and vision Hydro turned the biggest 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 customer. He helped develop packages for customer schooling in pump processes, believing that the information of tips on how to safely preserve and function pumps was something that should be shared with everybody. He spearheaded many inventions in the way pumps are serviced, utilizing state-of-the-art technology to re-engineer pumps for optimum effectivity.
Harris is survived by his spouse of 56 years, Rita, who he met while at the University of Illinois. She later grew to become vice president of Hydro, and they worked side-by-side to make the company preeminent in the business. Their leadership was characterised by a special dedication to their employees, who they treated like household. They inspired all service centres to honour Hydro’s workers with month-to-month worker celebrations and an annual Employee Appreciation Week. As he as quickly as said: “Hydro grew to become the corporate it did because of the commitment of our folks – machinists, mechanics, engineers, administrative and gross sales employees – who all share a pivotal function in serving our clients.”
The tradition of care and loyalty nurtured by the Harrises inspired admiration and esteem in all of Hydro’s staff, lots of whom have worked at Hydro for greater than 20 years. Harris was additionally well-respected by his peers throughout the pump business. 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 discovered that George Harris was the consummate protagonist who always anticipated more than individuals have been willing to provide. As an worker, I discovered shortly that half-hearted measures have been unacceptable and an angle of ‘good enough” was never tolerated. To suppose 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 amazing accomplishment. It took onerous work, lengthy hours, a “never say never” mindset, and teamwork to grow the corporate as he did. He wanted to be one of the best, he needed the company to be the best, and he wanted each of his staff to be their best.
George was a gifted individual who had the uncanny capability to “see over the horizon” and will glimpse the lengthy run needs of the industry lengthy earlier than others had digested last week’s adjustments.
There was also a side of George that most individuals by no means had the chance to see: As tenacious a businessman as he was, he was equally beneficiant and caring to these in the “Hydro Family.” George and Rita always handled their staff as “adopted sons and daughters” and they personally bore the burden of understanding that their business decisions not solely affect the corporate however the well-being and security of their staff and their households as nicely.
George will be deeply missed, but his legacy will reside on. He employed what he thought of the “best of breed” and those who shared his imaginative and prescient for the future, and the corporate is saturated with like-minded people who will continue to grow the company nicely into the future.”
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