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LAMBERTON - It took four years of work and waiting. But on Friday morning, the wait paid off for hundreds of area residents as they toured the grounds at the Highwater Ethanol plant west of Lamberton.

"It's hard to believe we would have gotten to this point four years ago," said Highwater Ethanol president David Moldan.

"It's a great plant, it will run efficiently, and it will do what it's supposed to do," said Highwater general manager and C.E.O. Brian Kletscher.

Highwater Ethanol LLC officially began production at the $110 million plant in August, but at a grand opening Friday, the doors were open to members of the public, many of them shareholders in the plant. A panel of speakers at the opening ceremony included state and national legislators.

"It's nice to be able to come in here and see where the money went," said one visitor in between tour stops. They probably wouldn't get the same chance again, he added.

Other visitors compared the plant's size to the Granite Falls Energy ethanol plant. The Highwater plant is almost exactly twice as big - sitting on 110 acres of land compared to the Granite Falls plant's 56, said Robin Spaude of Granite Falls Energy.

Highwater staff said the new plant is capable of producing 55 million gallons of ethanol for fuel a year, and more than 178,000 tons of dried distillers grains, a cornmeal-like byproduct that can be used for livestock feed. So far, Highwater staff said, rail shipments of DDG have mostly gone to the west coast and Canada.

While production wasn't at full tilt Friday, visitors had plenty of reminders that the plant was running. In the loading bay, a giant suction hose filled a railroad car with DDG, and the noise of the processing and distilling equipment threatened to drown out tour guides' voices. At one point early in the tour, some visitors had to edge out of the way of a grain truck making a delivery.

Now that the goal of building the ethanol plant has been reached, Moldan said, the new goal is to run it efficiently and contribute to the area economy.

U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson said the ethanol industry has faced some tough times recently, both from an unstable market and environmental opposition. However, he told the crowd he was "very optimistic" about the future.

"We've got to get ourselves established as an industry," Peterson said. When developments are made in producing cellulosic ethanol and other forms of biofuel, Peterson said, "It's going to be at these corn plants where that's going to start."

Minnesota Sen. Jim Vickerman, DFL-Tracy, said biofuels would be important for the next generation of farmers. There were plenty of representatives of that generation present Friday - area high school students took tours of the plant, while members of the Wabasso, Lamberton and Sanborn FFA helped run the open house.

"We're parking cars, doing tours," said Jordan Goblisch, a member of the Wabasso FFA.

Fellow Wabasso student Jasmine Goblisch said she was looking forward to finally seeing the plant up close.

"I've been driving by it for forever, but I've never seen the inside," she said.

"I think it's cool," Wabasso student Nicole Dudgeon said of the ethanol plant.

"I know it's better for the environment, and it's good that it's made from corn we grow here," Jasmine Goblisch said.