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 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 major pump firms as an software 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 industry. From the beginning, Harris believed in enhancing the reliability and efficiency of pumps and inspiring innovation. He was later appointed as president of Hydro.
Hydro began with a single store in Chicago; underneath Harris’s leadership and imaginative and prescient Hydro became the most important independent aftermarket pump company in the world. Today, Hydro stands proud with 15 service centres in 9 international locations.
Harris was instrumental in defining the culture of Hydro: unbiased, engineering- and innovation-focused, and devoted to the customer. He helped develop packages for buyer education in pump processes, believing that the information of tips on how to safely preserve and operate pumps was something that ought to be shared with everyone. He spearheaded many inventions in the best way pumps are serviced, using state-of-the-art technology to re-engineer pumps for optimum efficiency.
Harris is survived by his wife of fifty six years, Rita, who he met whereas at the University of Illinois. She later grew to become vice president of Hydro, they usually labored side-by-side to make the company preeminent within the trade. Their management was characterised by a special dedication to their employees, who they treated like household. They encouraged all service centres to honour Hydro’s workers with month-to-month worker celebrations and an annual Employee Appreciation Week. As he as quickly as stated: “Hydro became the company it did because of the commitment of our folks – machinists, mechanics, engineers, administrative and gross sales staff – who all share a pivotal function in serving our customers.”
The culture of care and loyalty nurtured by the Harrises impressed 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 within the pump industry. In 2014, he was elected as president of the Hydraulic Institute, the biggest association of pump industry manufacturers in North America. In 2015, Europump awarded him its President’s Silver Award in recognition of his valuable contributions to the pump industry.
Bob Jennings, Corporate Trainer, pays a private tribute:
“I started with HydroAire in 1976 and rapidly discovered that George Harris was the consummate protagonist who always expected greater than individuals have been prepared to provide. As an employee, I discovered quickly that half-hearted measures have been unacceptable and an perspective of ‘good enough” was by no means tolerated. To suppose that he took a rag-tag group of 5 street-wise salesmen and turned the company into a worldwide organization with 19 amenities worldwide is an incredible accomplishment. It took hard work, long hours, a “never say never” mindset, and teamwork to grow the corporate as he did. He wished to be one of the best, he wanted the corporate to be one of the best, and he wanted every of his staff to be their greatest.
George was a gifted individual who had the uncanny ability to “see over the horizon” and could glimpse the lengthy run wants of the trade long earlier than others had digested final week’s modifications.
There was also a facet of George that most people by no means had the chance to see: As tenacious a businessman as he was, he was equally generous and caring to those in the “Hydro Family.” เกจปรับแรงดันแก๊ส and Rita all the time handled their workers as “adopted sons and daughters” they usually personally bore the burden of understanding that their business decisions not solely have an effect on the corporate however the well-being and security of their workers and their families as properly.
George will be deeply missed, but his legacy will reside on. He hired what he considered the “best of breed” and those who shared his vision for the lengthy run, and the company is saturated with like-minded individuals who will continue to grow the company well into the lengthy run.”
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