A Copper River village corporation is fixing federal buildings in Tennessee

A company owned by 260 shareholders from a Copper River village is repainting a judge's chambers in Memphis and reconfiguring a fire pump in Jackson, Tennessee.

The General Services Administration awarded Chitina Diversified Services $67,042 for paint and carpet in Judges Chambers Suite 951 at the Odell Horton Federal Building in Memphis, running Aug. 24 through Nov. 24, and $38,299 for the Jackson fire pump work, Aug. 19 through Dec. 19.

The Anchorage firm started in 2017 and does construction and project management for federal agencies. Federal contracting data show roughly $44.3 million obligated to it across agencies, about $12.9 million of that from GSA across 49 awards.

A much larger job is already underway in the same state. GSA announced in October 2024 that the firm would receive a $7.4 million contract, including $3.3 million from the Inflation Reduction Act, to underpin the foundation of the Howard H. Baker Jr. United States Courthouse in Knoxville using low-embodied-carbon concrete and steel. The agency expected the materials to avoid more than 50 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

Chitina Diversified Services is a subsidiary of Chitina Native Corporation, the village corporation for Chitina in the Ahtna region of the Copper River valley. Its 260 shareholders live across Alaska and the Lower 48.

Copper built the town. The Copper River and Northwestern Railway ran through Chitina to serve the Kennecott mine, and when mining ended in 1938 the place became close to a ghost town. Today it is best known as the access point for one of Alaska's largest personal-use dipnet fisheries.

The firm holds 8(a) certification through the Small Business Administration.