MAINE — Irving Forest Products’ Ashland sawmill will soon double its space with help from the Finance Authority of Maine. FAME has approved approximately $42 million in tax credit financing for the project, an agency spokesperson said Thursday. The funding will allow Irving to modernize the mill in Nashville Plantation, which borders Ashland, at a time of growth for Maine wood products. The expansion will double the mill’s production and bring about 80 new jobs to the rural community, according to the company. “The expansion will add a second sawline and 68,000 square feet to the mill,” Anne McInerney, J.D. Irving VP of communications, said Friday. “The new sawline is designed to process larger and longer logs.” Irving Forest Products opened the 68,500-square-foot mill in 2014. The facility employs 140 full-time staff, which will rise to about 220 once the addition is online, McInerney said. Tax credit financing offers tax incentives to investors for backing a project.