With only six weeks on the job, Brandon McFarland wasn’t one of the 1,700 employees at the Austin’s Hormel Foods Corp. plant to receive part of a record profit sharing Wednesday. But McFarland was still happy to have a job at Hormel Foods.

A few months ago, McFarland was laid off from IBM and had trouble finding a manufacturing job until he was hired at Hormel.

“It means everything,” he said. “No one else was hiring.”

Hormel plants across the country took time Wednesday to celebrate the closing of the fiscal year and thank their employees with the largest annual profit sharing in company history.

The company announced Wednesday that more than $15.9 million was dispersed to eligible hourly and salaried employees — equal to about 2.2 weeks of pay for each employee.

The profit sharing money is traditionally given out the day before Thanksgiving.

“Today is a fun day to be part of the Hormel team,” said Plant Manager Mark Coffey.

Coffey said the Hormel was able to remain profitable during an economic recession. When other companies needed bailout money, Hormel avoided layoffs and was even able to hire an employee like McFarland.

“We’re all very thankful and proud that we work for the Hormel company, a company that’s strong, it’s profitable and it’s growing,” he said.

Jay C. Hormel started Hormel’s profit sharing plan in 1938, and it has continued to grow and progress ever since. The program is voluntarily paid at the discretion of Hormel’s board of directors.

“Today’s a pretty happy day for the 1,700 employees of the Hormel Foods Austin plant,” Coffey said. “And the reason it’s a happy day is we get to celebrate a successful conclusion of our financial year, and we get to continue with a tradition that started 71 years ago in 1938.”

Groups of about 100-120 employees filed into a makeshift auditorium set up in a corner of the Austin plant on. The first group in the auditorium was the dry sausage division at 8 a.m.

Employees will continue to cycle through the auditorium until about 10 p.m. Wednesday.

Coffey thanked the employees for a good year and record production in the dry sausage department. Along with highlighting accomplishments of the past year, he talked about the company’s goals for improvement next year.

Along with sharing Hormel Foods’ financial successes, Coffey said recordable injuries in the plant decreased by 35 percent. Employees also pledged a record amount of money to the United Way of Mower County with $121,000, Coffey said.

After a brief break for Thanksgiving, Coffey said the company would start working toward that strong 2010 on Friday.

“There’s no sliding in anything,” Coffey said. “We’re going to take today, and we’re going to pause, and we’re going to celebrate. Today’s going to be a fun day. But tomorrow, we’re going to be right back at it working hard, looking for ways to get better for 2010.”

Ken Christianson, a supervisor in refined products, stood with a stack of checks in his pockets to give to his employees.

“It’s one of the greatest days of the year,” he said. “It’s good to have the opportunity to thank the employees who work for me for the great job that they do all year.”

Christian said the employees look forward to the date each year. He said he typically uses his profit sharing money on Christmas shopping.

“I think it’s something that every one looks forward to every year,” he said. “And it’s just meaningful to carry on a tradition that’s been part of Hormels for 71 years.”

The dispersal of the profit sharing marks the end of a busy week for Hormel leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday. On Tuesday, Hormel Foods announced the company’s earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter and its fiscal year. Both showed an increase in net earnings but a decrease in sales.