AUSTIN, Minn. — When George Hormel was a young man, he’d already tried his luck with multiple occupations: sheep shearing, his father’s tannery, meat packing, wool and hide buying.

And he failed with each job.

Hormel’s fortunes changed, however, in 1887 after he heard news that a meat market in Austin, Minnesota, burned to the ground. The owner, Anton “Fritz” Friedrich, rebuilt, but wanted out of the business.

Having no money, Hormel borrowed $500 from his boss, and invested. By 1891, he split ways with his partner, Friedrich’s son, Albrecht, and established his own business, a pork-packing plant that came to be known as Geo. A. Hormel & Co.

Many at the time believed he bit off more than he could chew. How could he compete with Chicago’s “Big Five” meat-processing plants? Boasting of t

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