The Board of Mayor and Aldermen have given its approval to the proposed tax exemption for Golding Barge Line’s estimated $4.75 expansion project on its property on Lee Street at the Mississippi River.

The application filed by Golding Brothers Development, a company headed by Stephen D. Golding, seeks the exemption for Golding’s 14,000-square-foot building complex being built on a 17.3-acre tract next to the company’s present building at 101 Lee St.

The Warren Count Board of Supervisors is expected to review the request when it meets in October.

“We are pleased that we do business in a community and a city that’s willing to help us be successful in more ways than one,” said Austin Golding, Golding’s marketing, sales and customer service manager. “This tax exemption helps us make the most of our resources and our ability to compete on a national scale with companies that are all bigger than us. We are the smallest company in the country that does what we do on the scale we do.

“To be able to work hand-in-hand with our community to be a competitive player in that arena, we’re blessed and we’re thankful Vicksburg looks at us that way,” he said. “We also are indebted to the community for the type of young man they send in here through the front door here to apply for work. We’re going to put all the effort and resource we can to put as many people to work from around this area of the country as possible and continue to grow.”

Golding said the building should be ready for occupancy in the next 30 days. He said the company will have an office building and a receiving building that will act as a warehouse and parts distribution center.

Started in 1995 by Steve Golding, Golding Barge Line specializes in transporting refined petroleum products, petro-chemicals and chemical products throughout the U.S. inland waterway system.

The company has experienced growth in the past five years, going from 97 employees in 2010 to an estimated 215. “We anticipate 230 by the end of the year,” Austin Golding said.