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 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 degree in Engineering. After commencement, he labored at a number of main pump companies as an application engineer and regional manager.
In 1969, Harris was one of many four engineers who founded Hydro, Inc. with the mission of providing engineering companies to the pump aftermarket trade. 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 began with a single shop in Chicago; beneath Harris’s leadership and imaginative and prescient Hydro turned the most important independent aftermarket pump firm on the planet. Today, Hydro stands proud with 15 service centres in nine countries.
Harris was instrumental in defining the culture of Hydro: unbiased, engineering- and innovation-focused, and devoted to the customer. He helped develop applications for buyer education in pump processes, believing that the information of how to safely maintain and operate pumps was something that must be shared with everyone. He spearheaded many innovations in the finest way pumps are serviced, using state-of-the-art expertise to re-engineer pumps for maximum effectivity.
Harris is survived by his wife of 56 years, Rita, who he met whereas at the University of Illinois. She later turned vice president of Hydro, and they worked side-by-side to make the company preeminent in the trade. Their leadership was characterised by a particular commitment to their employees, who they treated like family. They inspired all service centres to honour Hydro’s employees with monthly employee celebrations and an annual Employee Appreciation Week. As he once stated: “Hydro grew to become the company it did due to the commitment of our people – machinists, mechanics, engineers, administrative and sales employees – who all share a pivotal function in serving our customers.”
The tradition 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 friends throughout the pump industry. In เกจ์วัดแรงดันน้ำมันเครื่อง , he was elected as president of the Hydraulic Institute, the biggest 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 trade.
Bob Jennings, Corporate Trainer, pays a private tribute:
“I started with HydroAire in 1976 and quickly realized that George Harris was the consummate protagonist who at all times anticipated greater than folks were prepared to offer. As an worker, I discovered quickly that half-hearted measures were unacceptable and an attitude of ‘good enough” was never tolerated. To think that he took a rag-tag group of 5 street-wise salesmen and turned the company into a worldwide organization with 19 services worldwide is an incredible accomplishment. It took exhausting work, lengthy hours, a “never say never” mindset, and teamwork to develop the company as he did. He needed to be the most effective, he wanted the company to be the most effective, and he wanted each of his employees to be their greatest.
George was a gifted individual who had the uncanny capability to “see over the horizon” and could glimpse the future wants of the trade long earlier than others had digested last week’s adjustments.
There was also a aspect of George that most individuals never had the chance to see: As tenacious a businessman as he was, he was equally generous and caring to these within the “Hydro Family.” George and Rita all the time handled their staff as “adopted sons and daughters” they usually personally bore the burden of understanding that their enterprise decisions not only have an effect on the corporate but the well-being and safety of their staff and their families as well.
George might be deeply missed, but his legacy will stay on. He employed what he considered the “best of breed” and those who shared his vision for the longer term, and the corporate is saturated with like-minded individuals who will proceed to grow the corporate properly into the long run.”
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