Tributes paid to Hydro, Inc.’s president and founder.
George F. Harris, president and founder 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 several main pump firms as an utility engineer and regional manager.
In 1969, Harris was one of the 4 engineers who based Hydro, Inc. with the mission of offering engineering providers to the pump aftermarket trade. From the beginning, Harris believed in improving 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 imaginative and prescient Hydro turned the most important impartial aftermarket pump firm on the earth. Today, Hydro stands proud with 15 service centres in 9 international locations.
Harris was instrumental in defining the tradition of Hydro: unbiased, engineering- and innovation-focused, and devoted to the shopper. He helped develop packages for customer training in pump processes, believing that the information of tips on how to safely maintain and function pumps was one thing that should be shared with everyone. He spearheaded many inventions in the best way pumps are serviced, using state-of-the-art know-how to re-engineer pumps for optimum effectivity.
Harris is survived by his wife of 56 years, Rita, who he met while at the University of Illinois. She later became vice president of Hydro, and they labored side-by-side to make the company preeminent within the trade. Their management was characterised by a particular dedication to their workers, who they handled like family. They inspired all service centres to honour Hydro’s workers with monthly employee celebrations and an annual Employee Appreciation Week. As he once mentioned: “Hydro became the corporate it did because of the commitment of our individuals – machinists, mechanics, engineers, administrative and gross sales employees – who all share a pivotal position in serving our customers.”
The culture of care and loyalty nurtured by the Harrises impressed admiration and esteem in all of Hydro’s employees, many of whom have labored 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 largest association of pump industry 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 began with HydroAire in 1976 and rapidly learned that George Harris was the consummate protagonist who at all times anticipated more than folks had been willing to offer. As an worker, I learned shortly that half-hearted measures were unacceptable and an angle of ‘good enough” was by no means tolerated. To think that เพรสเชอร์เกจ took a rag-tag group of 5 street-wise salesmen and turned the corporate into a world group with 19 services worldwide is a tremendous accomplishment. It took onerous work, long hours, a “never say never” mindset, and teamwork to grow the company as he did. He needed to be the best, he wished the company to be the most effective, and he wanted each of his workers to be their greatest.
George was a gifted individual who had the uncanny capacity to “see over the horizon” and could glimpse the longer term wants of the industry long before others had digested last week’s adjustments.
There was additionally a aspect of George that most people by no means had the opportunity to see: As tenacious a businessman as he was, he was equally generous and caring to those within the “Hydro Family.” George and Rita always treated their staff as “adopted sons and daughters” and so they personally bore the burden of understanding that their business choices not solely have an effect on the company but the well-being and security of their workers and their households as nicely.
George might be deeply missed, however his legacy will reside on. He hired what he thought of the “best of breed” and those who shared his vision for the future, and the company is saturated with like-minded people who will continue to grow the corporate well into the longer term.”
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