A Spirtas Worldwide Subsidiary
Two Banks Development
Leading the redevelopment of the former Canton, North Carolina paper mill — 185 acres along the Pigeon River becoming a new hub for industrial, commercial, and community growth.
Who They Are
Two Banks Development, LLC is a Spirtas Worldwide subsidiary formed to acquire and redevelop the historic paper mill property in Canton, North Carolina. For more than a century the mill anchored the town's economy, until its closure in 2023. In January 2025, Two Banks Development and Spirtas Worldwide completed the acquisition of the 185-acre site, taking on the work of turning a shuttered industrial complex into a working piece of Canton's future.
Leadership
The People on the Ground in Canton
Eric Spirtas
President & CEO
Michael Ferguson
General Manager
Luke Williams
Senior Engineer & Special Projects
Kimberly Ferguson
Office Manager
Acres along the Pigeon River, Haywood County, NC
Existing distribution and warehouse space on site
Site operated as a working paper mill for over a century
Redevelopment proceeding under North Carolina's Brownfields program
The Vision
Built around the town, not just the site.
Two Banks Development's leadership has been public about wanting the property to do more than sit vacant. The goal is a working mix of industrial, commercial, and residential use that puts people back to work and gives Canton a real economic anchor again — guided by a few consistent principles:
- Strengthening the local economy
- Working with the natural landscape, not against it
- Bringing the community into the process
- Investing in lasting quality over quick turnaround
- Making resilience visible in what gets built
Community Partnership
Two Banks Development has kept the Town of Canton closely involved in the site's future. The company continues operating the wastewater treatment plant that has long served the town, and in March 2026 the town purchased back roughly 52 acres of the property — including warehouse space — to put toward its own infrastructure and economic development plans.
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