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 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 degree in Engineering. After commencement, he worked at several major pump companies as an application engineer and regional supervisor.
In 1969, Harris was one of many 4 engineers who based Hydro, Inc. with the mission of offering engineering services to the pump aftermarket industry. 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 began with a single shop in Chicago; underneath Harris’s management and vision Hydro grew to become the largest independent aftermarket pump firm on the planet. Today, Hydro stands proud with 15 service centres in 9 nations.
Harris was instrumental in defining the culture of Hydro: unbiased, engineering- and innovation-focused, and devoted to the shopper. He helped develop applications for buyer training in pump processes, believing that the data of the means to safely preserve and function pumps was one thing that must be shared with everyone. He spearheaded many inventions in the greatest way pumps are serviced, using state-of-the-art expertise to re-engineer pumps for maximum effectivity.
Harris is survived by his spouse of fifty six years, Rita, who he met whereas on the University of Illinois. She later grew to become vice president of Hydro, and they worked side-by-side to make the corporate preeminent within the industry. Their leadership was characterised by a special dedication to their workers, who they handled like family. They inspired all service centres to honour Hydro’s employees with month-to-month employee celebrations and an annual Employee Appreciation Week. As เกจวัดแรงดันเชื้อเพลิง said: “Hydro grew to become the company it did because of the commitment of our people – machinists, mechanics, engineers, administrative and sales employees – who all share a pivotal position in serving our clients.”
The tradition of care and loyalty nurtured by the Harrises impressed admiration and esteem in all of Hydro’s workers, a lot of whom have worked at Hydro for greater than 20 years. Harris was additionally well-respected by his peers inside the pump trade. In 2014, he was elected as president of the Hydraulic Institute, the biggest affiliation of pump trade manufacturers in North America. In 2015, Europump awarded him its President’s Silver Award in recognition of his priceless contributions to the pump business.
Bob Jennings, Corporate Trainer, pays a personal tribute:
“I began with HydroAire in 1976 and quickly learned that George Harris was the consummate protagonist who at all times expected more than individuals had been keen to offer. As an worker, I discovered shortly that half-hearted measures were unacceptable and an angle of ‘good enough” was never tolerated. To assume that he took a rag-tag group of 5 street-wise salesmen and turned the corporate into a global organization with 19 services worldwide is an incredible accomplishment. It took onerous work, long hours, a “never say never” mindset, and teamwork to develop the company as he did. He wanted to be one of the best, he wanted the company to be the most effective, and he needed every of his staff to be their greatest.
George was a gifted particular person who had the uncanny ability to “see over the horizon” and will glimpse the future needs of the trade lengthy before others had digested final week’s changes.
There was also a side of George that most individuals 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 at all times handled their workers as “adopted sons and daughters” and they personally bore the burden of knowing that their enterprise choices not solely affect the corporate but the well-being and safety of their staff and their households as nicely.
George will be deeply missed, but his legacy will live on. He hired what he considered the “best of breed” and people who shared his vision for the lengthy run, and the company is saturated with like-minded people who will continue to develop the company nicely into the lengthy run.”
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