A shuttered tissue mill in Barnwell, South Carolina, is being brought back into operation under Barnwell Tissue Solutions, with an $18 million New Markets Tax Credit investment supporting the acquisition, equipment upgrades and working capital required for the restart.

National New Markets Fund (NNMF), an affiliate of SDS Capital Group, has committed $18 million of its New Markets Tax Credit allocation to support ST Group of Companies’ acquisition and renovation of the manufacturing facility.

The project involves a 300,000-square-foot tissue mill at 285 Midfield Road that closed in 2023, resulting in 138 layoffs.

Once reopened, the operation is expected to create 90 full-time jobs.

Barnwell Tissue Solutions to Upgrade Existing Mill

ST Group is reopening the facility through its newly formed subsidiary, Barnwell Tissue Solutions, which is also a subsidiary of Franklin Paper.

According to NNMF, the condition of the existing manufacturing equipment requires substantial investment before the mill can return to full operation.

The financing will therefore support several parts of the project, including:

• Acquisition of the existing facility
• Manufacturing equipment upgrades
• Renovation work
• Working capital required for the restart

Sahil Tak, owner of Barnwell Tissue Solutions, said the cost of returning the existing equipment to the required operating standard would have been difficult to support without the financing.

With funding secured, the company is now working with the Southern Carolina Alliance to connect local residents with employment opportunities at the mill.

90 Manufacturing Jobs Planned

The restart is particularly significant for Barnwell County, a rural area where manufacturing remains an important source of employment.

According to NNMF, the county has a poverty rate exceeding 35%.

The project is expected to create 90 jobs, with most positions accessible to people from lower-income communities.

NNMF said employees will receive wages above the local living wage as well as benefits including healthcare, retirement plans and professional development support.

Deborah La Franchi, CEO of National New Markets Fund, said reopening a previously shuttered manufacturing plant can help restore employment and economic activity in communities that have experienced industrial job losses.

ST Group Expands Tissue Manufacturing Footprint

The Barnwell mill will become ST Group’s first manufacturing location in South Carolina.

The company’s operations now include:

• ST Paper in Oconto Falls, Wisconsin
• ST Tissue in Franklin, Virginia
• Barnwell Tissue Solutions in Barnwell, South Carolina

ST Group describes itself as a major US marketer of parent tissue rolls, supplying both integrated and independent converters serving the away-from-home tissue market.

The addition of Barnwell expands the group’s manufacturing footprint in the southeastern United States while bringing an existing paper manufacturing asset back into productive use.

NNMF Previously Supported ST Paper Mill

The Barnwell project is not the first paper industry investment involving NNMF and ST Group.

In 2010, NNMF provided $15 million in New Markets Tax Credit financing to ST Paper’s mill in Oconto Falls, Wisconsin.

According to NNMF, the Wisconsin operation was within weeks of foreclosure at the time. The financing helped keep the mill operating, and the facility now employs more than 95 people.

The latest $18 million allocation extends that relationship to ST Group’s South Carolina expansion.

How the NMTC Financing Supports the Project

The financing uses the New Markets Tax Credit program, which is administered by the US Treasury Department.

Through the program, organizations receive tax credit allocations that can be used to attract private investment into projects located in economically distressed communities.

NNMF sells the tax credits to institutional investors and directs the resulting capital toward qualifying projects.

For the Barnwell transaction, Dudley Ventures is participating as the tax credit investor within the broader financing structure.

The project has also received support from South Carolina state and local economic development officials.

Restart Brings Existing Tissue Capacity Back Into Production

For the tissue industry, the significance of the project extends beyond employment.

Rather than constructing an entirely new mill, ST Group is reactivating an existing 300,000-square-foot manufacturing facility and upgrading its production equipment.

Reusing an existing industrial site can provide access to established infrastructure, but restarting an idled paper mill can also require substantial spending on machinery, maintenance and working capital before reliable production can resume.

The company has not disclosed the mill’s planned annual tissue production capacity, specific machine configuration or a timetable for reaching full production.

Those details will be important in assessing how much additional parent roll capacity the Barnwell operation ultimately brings to the US tissue market.

Industry Outlook

The Barnwell project represents both an expansion for ST Group and the return of a previously closed US tissue manufacturing asset.

With the group already supplying parent rolls to away-from-home tissue converters, the South Carolina facility could strengthen its manufacturing presence in the southeastern market once operations are fully restored.

For Barnwell County, meanwhile, the immediate impact is more local: a manufacturing facility that eliminated 138 positions when it closed in 2023 is being prepared for production again, with 90 new full-time jobs planned.

The next milestones to watch will be the completion of equipment upgrades, the timing of the mill restart and further details on its eventual production capacity and product mix.

Last Updated on 11/08/2026 by Jota Machinery