A federal tax incentive zone established in Central Mississippi around the time Nissan began operations has been expanded to include Vicksburg Factory Outlets.

&#8220It’s a good incentive,” said Vicksburg City Planner Wayne Mansfield, who announced the expansion to city officials.

With it, the startup costs of opening a business are reduced.

Word of the expansion was received from Washington about a month ago, said Leslie Pickens of the Central Mississippi Planning & Development District, based in Jackson.

The zone now encompasses parts of 13 counties from Leake County northwest to Washington County and southwest to Adams County and includes most of Warren County north of Interstate 20.

Among the tax benefits are federal tax credits of up to $1,500 for each employee. That credit applies at a rate of up to 15 percent to the first $10,000 in wages for each qualified employee.

The greatest wage credits are available for employees who both live and work in such zones, Mansfield said.

Renewal community zones are similar to other federal tax-credit zones called empowerment zones and enterprise communities. The Central Mississippi area is the state’s only such zone and is one of 40 that were established by the federal government in 2002.

The Nissan plant near Canton opened that year, thanks in large measure to a record package of state incentives and federal inducements.

Vicksburg Factory Outlets is on East Clay Street and has room for expansion. The creation of the zone put the area in it on a more-even footing with those in other such zones in the state, including one that includes parts of Bolivar and Sunflower counties and other parts of Washington County, the Mid-Delta Empowerment Zone. An enterprise community also encompasses parts of Northeastern Louisiana including part of western Madison Parish.

Warren County’s chief economic developer, Jim Pilgrim, said Congress has also been asked to also expand the zone to include the Port of Vicksburg area along Haining Road and the Ceres Industrial Interplex near Flowers.

&#8220That would be a huge incentive for industries up there,” Mansfield said of the harbor area, where between 1,500 and 2,300 people work, including many who also live in that area.

The zone is called the Mississippi Renewal Community. It is administered by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The tax credits offered in the zone are to expire at the end of 2009.

At least some of the renewal community is also included in the federal Gulf Opportunity Zone that was established following the 2005 hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Where the zones overlap all benefits of both are available to all businesses, Mansfield said.

VFO opened in 1995 with the majority of its investors local. The managing interest in it was sold 10 years later to a California real-estate company and it has announced plans to expand from 115,000 to 195,000 square feet of retail space. In 2005 the center had space for 30 stores with about three vacancies and employed about 250 to 275 people.

Financial backing for the development was provided by the city and county governments in the form of up to $1.1 million in tax-increment financing.