Irving Forest Products, a lumber and value-added wood products producer and subsidiary of J.D. Irving Limited, will modernize and expand its Ashland Sawmill in Nashville Plantation, Maine. The project will increase annual lumber production capacity from 130 million to 250 million board feet, J.D. Irving Limited announced.

The expansion will add 120 million board feet of annual capacity and increase the mill's production of dimensional lumber. Irving Forest Products rebuilt the Ashland facility in 2014 and has continued investing in the mill since then.

The project is expected to create and retain the equivalent of 220 permanent full-time jobs. It will also involve upstream workers in the region, including foresters and loggers.

The project has received $112.9 million in combined tax credit allocations through the Federal New Markets Tax Credit program and the Maine New Markets Capital Investment Program. The allocations are intended to attract private investment and address a funding gap for the project.

Seven Community Development Entities received federal and state tax credit allocations for the project. Their investments will generate approximately $44 million in federal and state tax credits.

TD Community Development Corporation provided a $10 million New Markets Tax Credit allocation and supported $49 million in investments for the modernization project, including federal and state investments and bridge equity.