Gordon M. Webster, the fourth generation publisher of the business newspaper, is the 41st winner of the Leon S. Peters Award presented by the Fresno Chamber of Commerce. Illustration by Cecilia Lopez
Gordon M. Webster, Jr., the publisher of the business newspaper, has been named the 41st receiver of the Warding Leon S. Peters presented by the Fresno Chamber of Commerce.
Webster – who last year celebrated his 50th anniversary with family publication business – was surprised at the news on Monday afternoon during the weekly meeting in the city of Fresno’s Rotary Club.
Mimi is appointed to Leon S. Peter, the son of Armenian immigrants who settled in Fowler as farmers. After the loss of his parents, Peter became a Fresno’s dealer and eventual owner of the Valley Foundry and machine workers, who became a global supplier of AG equipment. Prior to his death in 1983, he became one of Fresno’s best -known philanthropists.
Mimi aims to honor people who have succeeded in business and professional as careful leaders and moral servants.
Leon S. Peter award winners include former Director General of Lyons Magnus Robert Smittcamp (after death) in 2024, along with John Harris Farms; the late Sally Caglia of Caglia enterprises in 2023; Tom Richards of the Penstar Group in 2022; and Vinci Ricchiuti for Pharms in 2021.
Webster is the fourth generation publisher of the business newspaper, a business-business newspaper that serves in Fresno, Kings, Madera and Tulare circles. Readers of the publication know today traces its roots in 1886 when the HC Miller founded a newspaper called abstract of registers that detailed public real estate transactions. The business was bought by Webster Morris Shebster’s ancestor, a sheep, for $ 180 in 1888.
The publishers’ line continued with grandfather Norman A. Webster and father Gordon M. Webster, Sr., under whose business involved in 1976 and owned the first building of his city Fresno.
Gordon M. Webster, Jr. It has been included in the paper in various capacities since graduating from Oregon State University in 1974, where he played four years of football for Beavers.
In 1981, he took on the role of publisher when the work was still known as the Daily Fresno report, a daily legal newspaper. Ten years later, in 1991, he transformed the daily report of Fresno into the business newspaper, hiring a newsroom and expanding his focus to include comprehensive coverage of the region’s business community. Under its leadership, the publication circulation increased more than ten times, and advertising sales more than 1,000%.
A Fresno locals, Webster graduated from Bullard High School in 1969. He is married with three adult children and four grandchildren. Throughout his career, he has played an active role in the community, serving as a previous president of several organizations, including the American and Commercial Court Association, the Community Hospital Foundation, Bullard Boosters, the athletic fame hall Fresno district, Fresno rooms of trade and Rotary club of Fresno.
Philanthropy is also important for the Webster family, which supports organizations such as Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Ronald McDonald House charities, Fame and athletic pain of the Fresno circuit (patient and needy).
A fifth generation in the family business, the associate daughter and publisher Ashley Webster Rudolph, is preparing to keep the vision of Webster in the future. A 15-year-old company veteran, Ashley, went through the Department of Circulation, ensuring that the newspapers are submitted to the subscribers. She has even done one of the early work her father did: walking in the courtroom to receive and submit documents.
“I have had the privilege of working with him for more than 15 years, proving that he has run a successful family business and to run community integrity,” Ashley said. “I have learned a lot from him – he was the best father, the boss, the mentor and the friend. It was an honor and privilege to be his daughter and to bring the webster heritage to the next generation.
Webster and some other entrepreneurs, business executives and businesses in Fresno will be known at Valley Business Awards on March 19 at Pardini’s Catering.