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Irving Forest Products’ Ashland sawmill will soon double its space with help from the Finance Authority of Maine.
FAME has approved approximately $42 million in tax credit financing for the project, an agency spokesperson said Thursday.
The funding will allow Irving to modernize the mill in Nashville Plantation, which borders Ashland, at a time of growth for Maine wood products. The expansion will double the mill’s production and bring about 80 new jobs to the rural community, according to the company.
“The expansion will add a second sawline and 68,000 square feet to the mill,” Anne McInerney, J.D. Irving vice president of communications, said Friday. “The new sawline is designed to process larger and longer logs.”
Irving Forest Products, a subsidiary of Saint John, New Brunswick-based J.D. Irving Limited, opened the 68,500-square-foot mill in 2014.
The facility employs 140 full-time staff, which will rise to about 220 once the addition is online, McInerney said.
The forestry industry contributed $8.3 billion to Maine’s economy in 2024, according to a Maine Forest Products Council report issued in October. While paper declined by 41%, the demand for other wood products rose by 45%, the document stated.
Tax credit financing offers tax incentives to investors for backing a project. FAME’s board of directors approved a combined total of $16.5 million in tax credits to five community development groups, which together invested $42 million toward the expansion, the release stated.
FAME administers the New Markets Capital Investment Program with Maine Revenue Services, the agency said in a release. The effort aims to drive growth in low-income areas.
“We are pleased to support Irving Forest Product’s plans to expand the Ashland mill,” FAME board chair Renee Ouellette said in a statement. “With the planned expansion, the Ashland mill is expected to remain a top employer and economic engine in Aroostook County.”
The news was also hailed by Gov. Janet Mills and Mike Duguay, commissioner of the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development, who praised the support of lumbering as one of the state’s heritage industries, according to FAME.
“This investment reflects the hard work of our team and our long-term commitment to the region,” Jerome Pelletier of Irving said in a statement. “It will help us support good jobs and continue contributing to the Aroostook community.”
Details on when the work will start were not available Friday.