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.
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 several major pump firms as an utility engineer and regional supervisor.
In 1969, Harris was one of the four engineers who based Hydro, Inc. with the mission of providing engineering companies to the pump aftermarket trade. From the beginning, Harris believed in bettering the reliability and performance of pumps and encouraging innovation. He was later appointed as president of Hydro.
Hydro started with a single store in Chicago; beneath Harris’s leadership and vision Hydro grew to become the largest unbiased aftermarket pump firm on the earth. Today, Hydro stands proud with 15 service centres in 9 nations.
Harris was instrumental in defining the tradition 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 information of the method to safely maintain and function pumps was something that must be shared with everyone. He spearheaded many innovations in the greatest way pumps are serviced, utilizing state-of-the-art technology to re-engineer pumps for optimum effectivity.
Harris is survived by his spouse of fifty six years, Rita, who he met whereas at the University of Illinois. She later turned vice chairman of Hydro, they usually worked side-by-side to make the corporate preeminent within the business. weksler ea14 was characterised by a particular commitment to their staff, 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 quickly as stated: “Hydro became the company it did because of the dedication of our folks – machinists, mechanics, engineers, administrative and gross sales staff – who all share a pivotal position in serving our prospects.”
The tradition of care and loyalty nurtured by the Harrises impressed admiration and esteem in all of Hydro’s staff, lots of whom have labored at Hydro for greater than 20 years. Harris was additionally well-respected by his peers throughout the pump industry. In 2014, he was elected as president of the Hydraulic Institute, the biggest affiliation of pump business 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 personal tribute:
“I started with HydroAire in 1976 and shortly learned that George Harris was the consummate protagonist who all the time expected more than people were prepared to offer. As an employee, I learned rapidly that half-hearted measures were 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 world group with 19 services worldwide is an amazing accomplishment. It took exhausting work, lengthy hours, a “never say never” mindset, and teamwork to grow the company as he did. He wanted to be the most effective, he wanted the corporate to be the best, and he wished every of his staff to be their best.
George was a gifted individual who had the uncanny ability to “see over the horizon” and could glimpse the longer term wants of the industry long earlier than others had digested final week’s modifications.
There was also a facet of George that most people never had the opportunity to see: As tenacious a businessman as he was, he was equally generous and caring to these in the “Hydro Family.” George and Rita always treated their workers as “adopted sons and daughters” they usually personally bore the burden of figuring out that their business choices not only have an effect on the company however the well-being and security of their staff and their families as nicely.
George might be deeply missed, but his legacy will live on. He hired what he thought-about the “best of breed” and people who shared his vision for the future, and the company is saturated with like-minded people who will continue to develop the corporate well into the future.”
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