Irving’s Ashland sawmill awarded $113M in tax credit allocations

A multimillion-dollar project to modernize and expand Irving Forest Products Inc.’s sawmill in Aroostook County was awarded $112.9 million in New Markets Tax Credit financing from federal and state programs. The allocations help bridge a funding gap by attracting private investment, according to a news release. The Finance Authority of Maine approved $42 million in state tax credits for various community development entities in June. Irving Forest Products is a subsidiary of Canadian conglomerate J.D. Irving Ltd. “The Ashland expansion is an important investment in the future of Maine's forest products industry and the communities that depend on it,” said Jim Irving, CEO of J.D. Irving Ltd. Although called the Ashland sawmill, the facility is actually across the town line at 1218 Portage Road in Nashville Plantation. Community development The funding was allocated to seven community development entities: TD Community Development Corp., Mascoma Community Development LLC, CEI Capital Management LLC, nonprofit affordable housing and community investment organization Evernorth Rural Ventures Inc., Boston nonprofit community development financial institution MHIC, Louisiana impact investor Stonehenge Capital and New Jersey boutique investment banking firm CityScape Capital Group LLC, whose affiliate CCG Community Partners LLC provided $10.4 million of Maine New Markets Tax Credit allocations. Each entity invests its allocation in the project, and those investments generate $44 million in federal and state tax credits. Doubling production The project will double the facility’s annual lumber production capacity from 130 million to 250 million board feet and is expected to create and retain the equivalent of 220 permanent, full-time jobs while supporting upstream workers, including foresters and loggers throughout the region. The jobs will provide a full benefits package and pay at or above a living wage for Aroostook County. The sawmill is staffed by 140 full-time employees. TD Community Development Corp., a subsidiary of TD Bank, provided $10 million in a New Markets Tax Credit allocation and supported $49 million in New Markets Tax Credit investments, including federal and state investments and bridge equity, to help advance the project. “The Ashland sawmill expansion shows how new markets tax credits can bring private investment to rural communities and support businesses critical to local and regional economies,” said Will Richter, TD Community Development Corp.'s senior relationship manager. “Lumber production has long been an important part of Maine’s economic infrastructure and the broader New England supply chain, and the modernization of the Ashland sawmill will help Irving Forest Products continue creating jobs, supporting families and strengthening the communities it serves.” Construction is expected to be completed in fall 2027. Irving opened the Ashland sawmill in 2014 after it invested $30 million in the rebuild, producing over 100 million board feet per year at that time. The round wood log supply for the sawmill comes from the company’s Maine freehold woodlands as well as other woodlot and timberland owners in the state. By 2024, the mill had produced more than one billion board feet, equivalent to 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. In early 2025, Irving Forest Products bought a sawmill in the Aroostook County town of Masardis, just south of Ashland. Both sawmills are near 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. The Ashland mill is a top employer in Aroostook County.