NATCHEZ &8212; All they need now is the money.

That is the next step for Rentech, Natchez and Adams County. For some, that is a very big step.

After this week&8217;s meetings in Iowa and Illinois, local leaders came away feeling good about the future of Rentech South &8212; the new coal-to-liquid plant that is planned for Adams County.

&8220;It has been a gradual impression of good things happening,&8221; Adams County Attorney Bob Latham said Wednesday after landing in New Orleans.

After Tuesday evening&8217;s presentation of Rentech&8217;s plans for Natchez and Adams County in Dubuque, some who attended the meeting were calling the Adams County plant a &8220;slam dunk.&8221; The enthusiasm for the project clearly showed in the crowd.

But for those closest to the project in Natchez, the project is far from complete.

Getting the financing for Rentech South will be the project&8217;s biggest hurdle, officials say.

The company plans to finance the project privately without federal or state funding.

Currently, Rentech hopes to invest $1 billion to $2 billion in the Natchez project.

If all goes as planned the plant will be open in 2012, adding up to 200 jobs to the region.

The company does hope to take advantage of federal tax credits and loan guarantees &8212; all legislation that has yet to be approved in Washington D.C.

Adams County supervisors President Darryl Grennell said that is why it is critical that local leaders need to keep lobbying its congressional delegation to pass these critical pieces of legislation.

&8220;That is something we have to keep our eyes on,&8221; Grennell says.

Also local leaders hope that the GO Zone legislation that has been approved through Dec. 2009 will be extended by Congress through at least 2012.

Under the bonus depreciation part of the GO Zone, certain business construction and developments are allowed to deduct 50 percent of the depreciation during the first year of its life.

Unfortunately, this part of legislation only applies to businesses who are up and running by the time the law expires. This would not apply to Rentech.

Local officials hope to change that by extending the legislation into 2012.

But one of the things that could help the most in financing Rentech South is the company&8217;s continued progress in other projects.

Continued work on the project in East Dubuque, Ill., gives investors greater confidence in the new technology Rentech proposes to use.

The more confidence investors have in the technology, the more they will invest in the project, County Attorney Latham said.

Tuesday Rentech announced plans to join with Peabody, the nation&8217;s largest coal supplier, to build coal-to-liquid plants in Montana and the Midwest.

After news of the announcement Rentech stock jumped 21.5 percent trading nearly six times its daily transaction levels, according to the Denver Business Journal.

Grennell said that shows that investors are clearly interested in what Rentech is doing.

&8220;(The partnership with Peabody) will propel the Natchez project,&8221; Grennell said. &8220;(The reaction on Wall Street) tells you what the financial world thinks of Rentech at this point.&8221;