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Irving Forest Products will double output at Aroostook County sawmill.A subsidiary of Canadian conglomerate J.D.Irving Ltd.was awarded new markets tax credit financing to assist with an expansion of a sawmill near Ashland in Aroostook County.Although called the Ashland sawmill, the facility is actually across the town line at 1218 Portage Road in Nashville Plantation.In Maine, plantations are similar to towns in terms of organization and procedures, but their responsibilities and authority are more limited in scope.Modernize and expand The Finance Authority of Maine approved the financing, which it said is expected to make a significant positive economic impact on the county and state economies.The funds will be used by Irving Forest Products Inc., a subsidiary of J.D.Irving Ltd., as part of an overall multimillion-dollar project to modernize and expand its sawmill in Nashville Plantation.The investment will double the facility’s annual lumber production capacity from 130 million to 250 million board feet, according to a news release.The sawmill currently supports the equivalent of 140 full-time positions and will grow to approximately 220 full-time positions upon completion of the project.“With the planned expansion, the Ashland mill is expected to remain a top employer and economic engine in Aroostook County,” said Renee Ouellette, chair of FAME’s board.$42M investment FAME’s board approved the issuance of tax credit certificates related to five separate investments totaling approximately $42 million by various community development entities through the Maine New Markets Capital Investment Program.The investments are: - $5 million from CCM Community Development 90 LLC - $6.165 million from 15 ENRV 2008 LLC - $10,416,666 each from MHIC NE CDE II Subsidiary 80 LLC, Stonehenge Community Development 181 LLC and CCG Sub-CDE 84 LLC A total of up to $16.5 million in overall tax credits will be available as a result of the investments.Tax break for investors The forest products sector has defined the community for generations, noted Mike Duguay, commissioner of the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development.FAME administers the Maine New Markets Capital Investment Program in cooperation with Maine Revenue Services.The program aims to stimulate economic growth and community development in low-income areas of Maine by attracting private investment through tax incentives.The program allows eligible investors to claim tax credits against state taxes in amounts up to 39% of a project’s total cost.The last rebuild In 2014, Irving opened the sawmill after it invested $30 million in the facility’s rebuild, including the installation of biomass boilers, dry kilns and a planer mill to produce softwood lumber, producing over 100 million board feet per year at that time.The round wood log supply for the new sawmill is procured from the company’s Maine freehold woodlands as well as other woodlot and timberland owners in the state, according to a separate news release.By 2024, the mill had produced over one billion board feet, equivalent to providing material for approximately 80,000 homes.As a supplier to Irving Pulp & Paper, the mill also supplies wood chips for pulp to the company’s tissue business.Additional expansions Founded in 1882, J.D.Irving Ltd.is headquartered in Saint John, New Brunswick, with its Maine district headquarters in Fort Kent.Irving has sawmill and woodland operations in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and in Maine.Across all its divisions, the company has over 20,000 full-time equivalent employees at business units in forestry and forest products, agriculture, construction and equipment, consumer products, food, retail and distribution, shipbuilding, industrial fabrication and transportation and logistics.Earlier this year, Irving’s subsidiary, Atlas Structural Systems, opened a factory in Lewiston — Atlas’s first facility in the U.S.In early 2025, Irving Forest Products, which owns and operates wood processing facilities in Maine and New York State, acquired a sawmill in the Aroostook County town of Masardis, just south of Ashland.Both sawmills are within close proximity to Irving’s 1.3 million acres of timberlands in Maine.The company operates 10 sawmills as part of its solid wood operations, with a total annual capacity of 1.3 billion board feet.