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 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 labored at a quantity of main pump firms as an utility engineer and regional supervisor.
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 start, Harris believed in bettering the reliability and performance of pumps and inspiring innovation. He was later appointed as president of Hydro.
Hydro began with a single shop in Chicago; underneath Harris’s leadership and vision Hydro grew to become the largest unbiased aftermarket pump company on the planet. 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 client. He helped develop programs for buyer training in pump processes, believing that the data of tips on how to safely maintain and function pumps was something that should be shared with everyone. He spearheaded many inventions in the method in which pumps are serviced, utilizing state-of-the-art technology to re-engineer pumps for max efficiency.
Harris is survived by his wife of fifty six years, Rita, who he met whereas at the University of Illinois. She later became vice president of Hydro, and so they worked side-by-side to make the company preeminent in the business. Their leadership was characterised by a special commitment to their staff, who they handled like household. 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 turned the corporate it did because of the commitment of our individuals – machinists, mechanics, engineers, administrative and sales staff – who all share a pivotal function in serving our prospects.”

pressure gauge octa of care and loyalty nurtured by the Harrises impressed admiration and esteem in all of Hydro’s staff, lots 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 affiliation of pump business producers in North America. In 2015, Europump awarded him its President’s Silver Award in recognition of his priceless contributions to the pump trade.
Bob Jennings, Corporate Trainer, pays a private tribute:
“I began with HydroAire in 1976 and quickly learned that George Harris was the consummate protagonist who all the time expected more than people have been willing to provide. As an employee, I realized shortly that half-hearted measures had 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 corporate into a world group with 19 facilities worldwide is a tremendous accomplishment. It took exhausting work, long hours, a “never say never” mindset, and teamwork to grow the corporate as he did. He needed to be one of the best, he wanted the corporate to be the best, and he wanted every of his employees to be their best.
George was a gifted particular person who had the uncanny capacity to “see over the horizon” and could glimpse the longer term needs of the business long before others had digested last week’s modifications.
There was additionally a facet of George that most individuals 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.” George and Rita all the time treated their workers as “adopted sons and daughters” and they personally bore the burden of understanding that their business choices not only have an result on the corporate however the well-being and safety of their workers and their households as well.
George will be deeply missed, but his legacy will stay on. He hired what he considered the “best of breed” and those who shared his vision for the longer term, and the company is saturated with like-minded people who will continue to develop the company well into the long run.”

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