NMTC financing revives shuttered Virginia sawmill, creating 73 jobs
What's the deal? CEI Capital Management LLC (CCML)Dealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has provided New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) financing to Twain CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → to restart a Martinsville, Virginia, sawmill that has been shuttered since 2024. The investment funds a maintenance and recommissioning program to ready the mill for operation.
What's the endgame? The restart is expected to create 73 new jobs, on top of one employee already rehired. TwainDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → Capital plans to prioritise local hiring, including outreach to displaced workers from the previously shuttered mill.
Most jobs pay above the MIT benchmark for Martinsville, with wage increases, overtime, merit raises, and a benefits package. The project also includes on-the-job training, mentorship, and certification opportunities, and has qualified for a $60,000 grant from the Virginia Jobs Investment Program.
Why now? Twain Capital pursued conventional and alternative funding but faced challenging underwriting terms because of the restart nature of the project, which limited available capital. NMTC financing helped bridge that gap while providing flexibility for working capital needs.
The NMTC program is a federal scheme that offers tax incentives to investors who back businesses in low-income census tracts. Dudley Ventures Valley National Bancorp Community Investment Fund, LLCDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → provided the NMTC equity, and Hope Community Capital served as investment consultant to CCML.
Beyond direct hiring, the mill will become a timber purchaser for local landowners and forestry operators, strengthening regional supply chains and promoting sustainable forestry through full-fibre utilisation and reforestation.
“We are excited to bring this mill back into operation and restore an important source of employment and economic activity in the Martinsville community,” said Harrison Wicks, mill manager. He added that the financing “provides the flexibility needed to recommission the facility, build our workforce, and support a successful long-term restart.”
The signal: The deal shows how tax-credit financing can revive idle rural industry that conventional lenders overlook. “Investing in rural communities means investing in the businesses that provide stable employment and help entire regions prosper,” said Traci Vaine, chief executive officer of CCML.
Read more: ceimaine.org
Image credit: Intermountain Region US Forest Service
