By Albert Lea Tribune

AUSTIN &8212; Hormel Foods awarded two Albert Lea businesses with Spirit of Excellence awards. Minnesota Corrugated Box and Lou Rich were given the honor Friday morning.

Seven Austin companies were among the 71 suppliers honored by Hormel Foods with Spirit of Excellence awards.

Austin-based Hormel recognizes suppliers &8220;for their active role in the company&8217;s continuous improvement process,&8221; according to a release.

&8220;We hold our suppliers to the highest standards, and these organizations have helped Hormel Foods achieve its process goal to set our industry&8217;s &8216;gold standard&8217; for quality and product safety,&8221; James Snee, director of purchasing for Hormel Foods, said. &8220;While the individual criteria for each service area differs, all awarded suppliers provide a high level of technical expertise in their industry along with superior customer service.&8221;

Award winners with offices in Austin are Bunzl Processor Division, Fox Electric, K & K Fabrication Inc., The Joseph Company Inc., McFarland Truck Lines Ic., Smyth Companies Inc., and Weyerhaeuser.

Suppliers that receive Spirit of Excellence awards four out of five years enter the running for the Hormel No. 1 Award, which is given out every five years, and will next be awarded in 2011.