DES MOINES, Iowa — The state Economic Development Board on Thursday awarded $952,000 in tax credits to H.J. Heinz Co. in Muscatine.

The tax credits, which come through the state’s enterprise zone program, are expected to:

* Amount to about $190,000 annually over five years.

*  Help retain 66 jobs at the company’s campus on Isett Avenue, where it makes ketchup, barbecue sauce and other condiments. Pittsburgh-based Heinz has operated a plant in Muscatine, where it employs more than 400 people, for 116 years.

The plant overhaul will update outdated equipment on its gravy line, according to documents filed with the state, and includes replacing nine pressure-cooking vessels at the plant.

Building demolition has already begun and reconstruction is expected to be completed this winter. The new equipment is expected to be operational in the second quarter of next year.

Officials at the Muscatine plant were not immediately available for comment.

In June, factory manager Tom Green told the Muscatine City Council Heinz needed tax-increment financing to update its facilities.

Tax-increment financing is a method of using future tax gains to finance current improvements that should create those gains. Instead of approving a TIF district, city officials this morning said the Council

approved the creation of a 10-year enterprise zone for the Heinz project.  The zone will enable the city to abate more than $1 million in estimated property taxes on the estimated $4 million in new construction included in the project. The city will abate 100 percent of the taxes for three years, two-thirds of the taxes for three years and a third of the taxes for four years.

Green said in June the company’s plans called for the overall $15 million project to replace outdated equipment and one building on the campus.

“It’s a great thing for (Muscatine) to see that renovation taking place,” said Greg Jenkins, director of economic and community development at the Greater Muscatine Chamber of Commerce & Industry. “What it means is we’ve positioned ourselves to save those … jobs that are involved in making gravy at this plant, which is a very good thing.”

The tax credit for Heinz was one of several awards given Thursday by the Economic Development Board. Other companies to receive incentives included:

n Hub City Brewing Co., a micro-brewery in Stanley, which hopes to broaden its base throughout the Midwest. The board voted to approve a $105,000 loan and $10,000 technical assistance grant to help the regional micro-brewery increase its production capacity.

n Vizient of Bettendorf, which will receive a $70,000 forgivable loan for a 4,400-square-foot expansion of its production facility. The $972,000 expansion is expected to create 15 jobs and retain six. The company specializes in robotic integration and tool and die design and manufacturing. Vizient also will receive high-quality jobs tax credits of about $69,400 for the project.

Custom Poultry Processing in West Union, which received $350,000 in loans to convert the Atwood Mobile Products facility into a poultry processing plant. The $4.9 million project includes a remodeling of buildings along Highway 150 on the edge of the city. The project also is eligible for tax credits through the state’s enterprise zone program.

The plant is expected to employ 126 people and process more than 14 million chickens annually when it is at full capacity.

Accent Media Inc. in Cedar Rapids, which received a $5,000 forgivable loan to help restore hundreds of master tapes destroyed in the flood of 2008. The total estimated cost of restoring 600 master tapes is about $900,000. The company provides communications media, devices and services for productions. Its clients include local advertising agencies, private businesses and political candidates, as well as the University of Iowa, CNN and MTV.