The Warren County Port Commission is in the process of figuring out how and where to expand the Port of Vicksburg.

“Our port is at capacity, so we are actually losing opportunities because we have nowhere to put anyone,” Port Commission director Wayne Mansfield told Port City Kiwanis last week.

The agency is determining if expanding the current port site on Haining Road or building a second port site is more feasible, he said.

“We’re trying to come up with some numbers and what it’s going to cost and then we can run an impact analysis to see what will be our rate of return over X number of years to see what the rate of return is on the public investment,” Mansfield said.

An advantage of expanding the current port site is that the county already owns the land, Mansfield said.  Other spots are being eyed for development, but would have to be purchased by the county.

“You have to be able to justify your public expenditures,” Mansfield said.

The Port of Vicksburg has 21 business and industries operating at its current 422-acre site. About 2,000 people work at jobs at the port, Mansfield said.

“The estimated total payroll of the industries out there is about $90 million. It’s a significant economic impact,” Mansfield said.

The port is the 11th most active of the country’s 300 inland ports.

“We have product that comes into our port from all over the world,” Mansfield said.

The port commission has landed two major industries thus far this year.

CAM2 International — a lubricant manufacturing company — announced in May that it would move into the former Shell plant at the port.

In August, the county closed on a $1.5 million deal to purchase the former Calsonic site at Ceres Research and Industrial Interplex for use by the German-based leather tannery TanTec.