US BioEnergy Corporation (NASDAQ: USBE) is celebrating the grand opening Wednesday of the company’s newest ethanol production facility by ringing the closing bell on the NASDAQ from the plant in Albert City, Iowa. The feat will be accomplished remotely via satellite from the 100 mgy plant which actually started operations in December.

“Most companies go to New York in order to do this type of ceremony,” said US BioEnergy CEO Gordon Ommen. “Since we are a midwest company, really founded on the American farmer and those relationships, we thought we’d have New York come to rural America and meet us on our ground.”

US BioEnergy is the largest “pure play” ethanol producer in the country. “The largest producer of ethanol in the U.S. is ADM,” said Ommen. “We are the second largest producer of ethanol and the largest ‘pure play’ producer, which means ethanol is our primary product.”

U.S. BioEnergy partners include Fagen, Inc. and Cenex Harvest States. The company currently owns and operates three ethanol plants and has five additional ethanol plants under construction. They just announced the beginning of construction on a 100 million gallon per year facility near Grinnell, Iowa which is co-owned by Big River Resources, LLC.

Listen to an interview with Ommen here. Ommen Interview (5:00 min MP3)