Staff
Max Hipp, President/CEO
Max Hipp, President and CEO
max@oxfordms.com
Native of Oxford, Mississippi
Bachelor of Business Administration – 1967, University of Mississippi
Master of Urban & Regional Planning – 1973, University of Mississippi
- March 1989 to Present – Pres/CEO of the Oxford-Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Foundation
- June 1987 to June 1989 – Senior Economic Developer, Greensboro Area Chamber of Commerce, Greensboro, N.C.
- June 1985 to June 1987 – Associate Director, Lauderdale Economic Development Authority and Industrial Foundation, Meridian, Mississippi
- August 1981 to May 1985 – Senior Economic Developer, Mississippi Department of Economic and Community Development, Jackson, Mississippi
- July 1976 to August 1981 – Assistant City Manager, City of Rome, Georgia
- April 1974 to June 1976 – Planning Director, Rome-Floyd County Planning Commission,Rome, Georgia
- July 1973 to March 1974 – Regional Planner, Coosa Valley Area Planning & Development Commission, Rome, Georgia
- January 1972 to June 1973 – Graduate School, University of Mississippi
- October 1968 to December 1971 – United States Army, Active Duty, Germany and Korea
- Military: 26 years, Active duty United States Army Signal Corps, 1968-71, United States Army Reserve 1974-1994, Retired Lieutenant Colonel.
- Wife Barbara, two children: Melissa and Max Bishop; two grandchildren
Christy Knapp, Executive Vice President
Christy Knapp, Executive Vice President
christy@oxfordms.com
Christy Knapp currently serves as Executive Vice President for Economic and Community Development for the Oxford-Lafayette County Economic Development Foundation (EDF), a public private partnership whose mission is to be a leader in creating opportunities for responsible economic investment and to thereby raise the per capita income for all citizens of Lafayette County. She also serves as Director for the Retiree Attraction Program currently sponsored by EDF.
Her professional background and experience in community development have prepared her well to establish and maintain positive community efforts which improve Oxford-Lafayette County’s quality of life and yield economic benefits. Ms. Knapp holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Houston; Houston, Texas in Speech Pathology and Audiology and Elementary Education. She is also a graduate of the University of Arizona’s Institute For Organizational Management sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; and University of Oklahoma’s Economic Development Institute.
Ms. Knapp is currently a member of the Mississippi Economic Development Council’s (MEDC) Board of Directors serving as President for 2010-2011. She is also a member of the Oxford/Ole Miss Chapter of the Public Relations Association of Mississippi (PRAM). She also serves on the state’s Hometown Mississippi Retirement Advisory Board, Northwest Community College’s Workforce Development Council, the Mayor’s Commission on Disability Issues for the City of Oxford, Lafayette County’s Coordinating Council on Aging, and Baptist Memorial Hospital-North MS’s Physician Recruitment Committee. She also holds memberships in the Southern Economic Development Council (SEDC) and International Economic Development Council (IEDC). Ms. Knapp was honored with the 2002 Ray and Jimmy Heidel Leadership Award in recognition of emergent leaders in economic development, and one of the Mississippi Business Journal’s Top 50 Business Women in 2006. She is a former President of the Grand Oaks Homeowners Association in Oxford, MS.
Ms. Knapp is married to Ron Knapp, Co-owner of ACI Building Systems in Batesville, MS and has three grown children, Elise (Orlando, FL), Jennifer (Chicago, IL) and Christopher (Oxford, MS). She is also a proud grandmother of 4 with another expected in March 2012.
