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.
ไดอะแฟรม 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 graduation, he worked at a number of major pump firms as an software engineer and regional supervisor.
In 1969, Harris was one of the 4 engineers who founded Hydro, Inc. with the mission of offering engineering providers to the pump aftermarket business. From the start, Harris believed in enhancing the reliability and performance of pumps and encouraging innovation. pressure gauge was later appointed as president of Hydro.
Hydro began with a single store in Chicago; underneath Harris’s leadership and vision Hydro grew to become the largest unbiased aftermarket pump firm in the world. Today, Hydro stands proud with 15 service centres in 9 nations.
Harris was instrumental in defining the tradition of Hydro: unbiased, engineering- and innovation-focused, and devoted to the client. He helped develop programs for customer schooling in pump processes, believing that the information of the means to safely keep and function pumps was one thing that should be shared with everybody. He spearheaded many inventions in the method in which pumps are serviced, using state-of-the-art expertise to re-engineer pumps for optimum effectivity.
Harris is survived by his spouse of fifty six years, Rita, who he met whereas at the University of Illinois. She later turned vp of Hydro, and so they labored side-by-side to make the company preeminent within the trade. Their management was characterised by a special commitment to their staff, who they handled like family. They inspired all service centres to honour Hydro’s staff with month-to-month worker celebrations and an annual Employee Appreciation Week. As he once said: “Hydro grew to become the corporate it did because of the dedication of our individuals – machinists, mechanics, engineers, administrative and gross sales employees – who all share a pivotal position in serving our customers.”
The tradition of care and loyalty nurtured by the Harrises inspired admiration and esteem in all of Hydro’s employees, a lot of whom have labored at Hydro for more than 20 years. Harris was also well-respected by his peers throughout the pump trade. In 2014, he was elected as president of the Hydraulic Institute, the most important 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 business.
Bob Jennings, Corporate Trainer, pays a personal tribute:
“I started with HydroAire in 1976 and rapidly learned that George Harris was the consummate protagonist who all the time anticipated more than folks were keen to supply. As an employee, I learned rapidly that half-hearted measures have been unacceptable and an attitude of ‘good enough” was by no means tolerated. To assume that he took a rag-tag group of 5 street-wise salesmen and turned the company into a world organization with 19 facilities worldwide is a tremendous accomplishment. It took onerous work, lengthy hours, a “never say never” mindset, and teamwork to develop the company as he did. He wanted to be the most effective, he needed the corporate to be the most effective, and he wanted every of his employees to be their finest.
George was a gifted particular person who had the uncanny ability to “see over the horizon” and will glimpse the lengthy run needs of the industry long before others had digested final week’s modifications.
There was additionally a aspect of George that most individuals never had the chance to see: As tenacious a businessman as he was, he was equally beneficiant and caring to these within the “Hydro Family.” George and Rita at all times treated their employees as “adopted sons and daughters” and they personally bore the burden of understanding that their business selections not solely affect the company however the well-being and security of their employees and their families as well.
George shall be deeply missed, but his legacy will reside on. He hired what he thought of the “best of breed” and people who shared his vision for the future, and the corporate is saturated with like-minded individuals who will proceed to develop the corporate nicely into the future.”
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