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 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 commencement, he worked at a number of major pump corporations as an software engineer and regional supervisor.
In 1969, Harris was one of the 4 engineers who based Hydro, Inc. with the mission of offering 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 started with a single shop in Chicago; under Harris’s management and vision Hydro grew to become the biggest unbiased 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 dedicated to the customer. He helped develop packages for customer education in pump processes, believing that the knowledge of the method to safely maintain and operate pumps was something that must be shared with everybody. He spearheaded many inventions in the way pumps are serviced, utilizing state-of-the-art know-how to re-engineer pumps for max efficiency.
Harris is survived by his spouse of 56 years, Rita, who he met whereas on the University of Illinois. She later grew to become vice president of Hydro, and so they labored side-by-side to make the corporate preeminent within the business. Their management was characterised by a special commitment to their employees, who they handled like household. They inspired all service centres to honour Hydro’s workers with monthly worker celebrations and an annual Employee Appreciation Week. As he once stated: “Hydro grew to become the corporate it did because of the commitment of our folks – machinists, mechanics, engineers, administrative and sales employees – who all share a pivotal function in serving our prospects.”
The culture of care and loyalty nurtured by the Harrises inspired admiration and esteem in all of Hydro’s employees, lots of whom have worked at Hydro for more 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 most important affiliation of pump business producers 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 personal tribute:
“I began with HydroAire in 1976 and rapidly realized that George Harris was the consummate protagonist who always expected greater than people were keen to offer. As an worker, I realized shortly that half-hearted measures have been unacceptable and an perspective of ‘good enough” was by no means tolerated. To assume that diaphragm seal took a rag-tag group of 5 street-wise salesmen and turned the corporate into a global group with 19 services worldwide is an incredible accomplishment. It took onerous work, lengthy hours, a “never say never” mindset, and teamwork to develop the company as he did. He wished to be the best, he wanted the corporate to be one of the best, and he wished every of his workers to be their greatest.
George was a gifted particular person who had the uncanny capability to “see over the horizon” and could glimpse the long run wants of the industry long before others had digested last week’s changes.
There was additionally 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 within the “Hydro Family.” George and Rita always handled their employees as “adopted sons and daughters” and they personally bore the burden of figuring out that their business decisions not only affect the company but the well-being and security of their employees and their households as well.
George will be deeply missed, however his legacy will live on. He employed what he thought-about the “best of breed” and those who shared his vision for the lengthy run, and the corporate is saturated with like-minded people who will continue to grow the corporate properly into the lengthy run.”
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