USDA Announces $7.5 Million to Giving Tree Lumber, LLC to Restart Pine Products Sawmill

(Richmond, VA, April 8, 2026) - U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development's Rural Business Cooperative Service Administrator J.R. Claeys has announced $115.2 million across eight states through the Timber Production and Expansion Guaranteed Loan Program (TPEP), to ensure sawmills and other wood processing facilities have the necessary funding to establish, reopen, expand, or improve their operations. In Virginia, Giving Tree Lumber, LLC is receiving $7,568,000.

Beth Green, State Director, USDA Rural Development Virginia said "Investments like the one in Giving Tree Lumber, LLC are vital to sustaining Virginia's third-largest private industry. This funding will boost the state's forest products sector, strengthening local economies and supporting an estimated 322 jobs over the next three years. Active forest management not only drives demand for rural employment, but also improves forest health and helps reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires."

Twain Capital, through its new entity Giving Tree, LLC, will utilize $7.5 million through the Timber Production Expansion Program Guaranteed Loan Program to acquire and restart the idle Pine Products Sawmill in Martinsville, Virginia. The investment will provide essential long-term financing for purchasing the sawmill from bankruptcy proceedings and supply working capital for raw materials. With this support, the modernized facility can resume operations, strengthening Virginia's lumber industry. The project is anticipated to support 322 jobs in three years, generating significant economic output for the region.

Today's announcement assists with projects in the states of California, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Oklahoma, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

These investments represent a commitment by the Trump Administration to expand American timber production by 25%, reduce wildfire risk, and save American lives and communities by strengthening domestic wood processing capacity.

"The value of National Forest Systems lands is demonstrated by providing various forest products, such as timber, lumber, paper, bioenergy, and other wood products," said U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz. "The American forest products industry is critical to maintaining the health of the nation's forests. The Timber Production and Expansion Guaranteed Loan Program is one of many ways the Forest Service partners with the timber industry to maintain rural jobs, processing facilities, and an outlet for wood that needs to be removed from national forests."

The Timber Production Expansion Guaranteed Loan Program is made possible by a partnership between the USDA Rural Development and US Forest Service. The program helps address the wildfire crisis by investing in local sawmills that clear out dangerous fuel in our forestlands, helping to remove the most immediate threats to communities, critical infrastructure, and natural resources. This program is available to qualified lenders whose loan applicants want to establish, reopen, expand, or improve a sawmill or other wood processing facility that processes ecosystem restoration byproducts from USDA Forest Service National Forest System lands.

For more information on USDA Rural Development investments in rural America, visit the Rural Data Gateway . The Rural Data Gateway is an online tool that strengthens USDA Rural Development partnerships with rural people, entrepreneurs, government officials and Congress by making RD's investment data accessible to the public.

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