Richard Knowlton has received too many awards in his career to count, but that didn’t stop the Austin Area Chamber of Commerce from tacking on one more.

The Chamber honored Knowlton, President of Hormel Foods from 1979 to 1992 and CEO from 1981 to 1993, with its lifetime achievement award Wednesday during its annual fall meeting, where it also elects new officers. In front of a packed Austin Country Club, Gary Ray, The Hormel Foundation chair, described Knowlton as his mentor, friend and a business giant.

“I struggled finding words strong enough to describe him,” Ray said. “Dick is a leader in every respect.”

The chamber also elected four directors to three-year terms on the chamber board: Megan Burroughs, of Adams, Rizzi & Sween, Tim Fritz, of Hormel Foods, Scot Ramsey, of Mayo Clinic Health System — Albert Lea and Austin, and Randy South, of Tech Tool & Manufacturing. This will be South’s first term on the board.