Tributes paid to Hydro, Inc.’s president and founder.
George F. digital pressure gauge , president and founder of Hydro, Inc.
Hydro, Inc. has announced the passing of its president and founder, George F. Harris, on December 20th, 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 commencement, he labored at a number of major pump firms as an software engineer and regional supervisor.
In 1969, Harris was one of many 4 engineers who founded Hydro, Inc. with the mission of providing engineering services to the pump aftermarket industry. From the start, Harris believed in bettering the reliability and efficiency of pumps and encouraging innovation. He was later appointed as president of Hydro.
Hydro started with a single shop in Chicago; beneath Harris’s management and imaginative and prescient Hydro turned the most important impartial aftermarket pump company in the world. Today, Hydro stands proud with 15 service centres in nine international locations.
Harris was instrumental in defining the tradition of Hydro: unbiased, engineering- and innovation-focused, and dedicated to the customer. He helped develop programs for buyer schooling in pump processes, believing that the data of tips on how to safely maintain and operate pumps was something that must be shared with everybody. He spearheaded many innovations in the method in which pumps are serviced, utilizing state-of-the-art know-how to re-engineer pumps for maximum efficiency.
Harris is survived by his wife of 56 years, Rita, who he met whereas at the University of Illinois. She later turned vice chairman of Hydro, and so they worked side-by-side to make the corporate preeminent within the business. Their leadership was characterised by a special dedication to their workers, who they handled like household. They inspired all service centres to honour Hydro’s employees with monthly employee celebrations and an annual Employee Appreciation Week. As he as quickly as mentioned: “Hydro turned the corporate it did due to the dedication of our people – machinists, mechanics, engineers, administrative and sales workers – who all share a pivotal role in serving our customers.”
The tradition of care and loyalty nurtured by the Harrises impressed admiration and esteem in all of Hydro’s staff, a lot of whom have worked at Hydro for more than 20 years. Harris was additionally well-respected by his peers throughout the pump trade. In 2014, he was elected as president of the Hydraulic Institute, the biggest association of pump trade 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 personal tribute:
“I started with HydroAire in 1976 and rapidly discovered that George Harris was the consummate protagonist who at all times anticipated more than folks were prepared to provide. As an worker, I discovered rapidly that half-hearted measures have been unacceptable and an attitude of ‘good enough” was never tolerated. To think that he took a rag-tag group of 5 street-wise salesmen and turned the company into a global group with 19 services worldwide is a tremendous 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 best, he needed the corporate to be the best, and he needed every of his employees to be their finest.
George was a gifted individual who had the uncanny capacity to “see over the horizon” and will glimpse the longer term wants of the industry lengthy before others had digested last week’s modifications.
There was also a facet of George that most people never had the chance to see: As tenacious a businessman as he was, he was equally beneficiant and caring to these in the “Hydro Family.” George and Rita all the time handled their workers as “adopted sons and daughters” and so they personally bore the burden of understanding that their business choices not solely affect the corporate however the well-being and safety of their employees and their families as well.
George might be deeply missed, but his legacy will stay on. He employed what he thought of 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 long run.”
Share