After working as a lawyer in Florida, Chipman returned to Winnipeg in 1988 and joined Birchwood Automotive Group, a group of car dealerships founded by his father, Robert Chipman. Since 2001, Mark has been the president of Megill-Stephenson Company, the Chipman family's holding company, whose subsidiaries include True North Sports & Entertainment, the Birchwood dealerships, and Longboat Development Corporation, the company's real estate development division. Megill-Stephenson also founded a financing company called National Leasing in 1977, which it sold in 2009. Its real estate division, the Stevenson Group of companies, was largely divested in 2015. Longboat Development Corporation is currently developing a $75 million mixed-use tower across from the MTS Centre, on the north side of Portage Avenue. The key part of the project is a 20-storey, tower featuring commercial space and a hotel. Most of the tower is occupied by two tenants: Canadian firm Stantec and the Quebec-based Groupe Germain. Stantec has consolidated its Winnipeg operations within the tower's office space, while the Germaine Group has opened an ALT Hotel that occupies the top twelve floors. The rest of the building will be developed into restaurant and retail space. A 450-stall parkade is also under construction. Construction began in early 2012 and some portions of the building opened in Spring of 2015.
True North Sports & Entertainment
After the original Winnipeg Jets left for Phoenix in 1996, Chipman was part of a group that purchased the International Hockey League's Minnesota Moose and moved them to Winnipeg, renaming them the Manitoba Moose. With the demise of the IHL in 2001, Chipman was instrumental in brokering a deal which saw six former IHL teams, including the Moose, accepted into the American Hockey League. Chipman and a group of local investors created True North Sports & Entertainment in 2001 for the purpose of building a new sports and entertainment venue in downtown Winnipeg. Originally called the True North Centre, Bell MTS Place opened in 2004 and became the new home of the Moose. Ownership of the Moose was transferred to True North in 2003 in order to consolidate the operations of the team and new arena. Chipman's ultimate goal was to bring an NHL team back to Winnipeg to fill the void left by the Jets. As early as 2009, True North was reported to be in talks to purchase the Phoenix Coyotes from the NHL and relocate the club back to Winnipeg. At the same time, there were also rumors that the Atlanta Thrashers were up for sale as well. After two years of on-and-off again talks with the NHL regarding the Coyotes, Chipman and True North were presented the opportunity to purchase the Atlanta Thrashers. On May 31, 2011, Chipman and NHL CommissionerGary Bettman announced that a deal had been reached to purchase the Thrashers and relocate them to Winnipeg for the upcoming season. The NHL Board of Governors approved the sale and relocation a few weeks later. At the 2011 NHL Draft held in St. Paul, Minnesota; Chipman revealed the franchise's new name just before making its first-round pick. As chairman and principal owner of the Jets, Chipman represents the Jets at the NHL Board of Governors, and is currently a member of the board's executive committee.
Honours
In 2005, Chipman was awarded the James C. Hendy Memorial Award as the AHL's top executive. He also received the Thomas Ebright Memorial Award in 2011 for his outstanding contributions to the AHL. In 2012, Chipman was made a member of the Order of Manitoba by the Honourable Philip S. Lee, the Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba. Later in 2012, Chipman was honoured by UND as the recipient of the Sioux Award, the highest award given by university, for his accomplishments and community service.
Personal
Chipman serves on the board of the Hockey Canada Foundation and the Hockey Hall of Fame Selection Committee. He is married to Patti; they have three daughters.
