Gordon M. Webster, fourth-generation publisher of The Business Journal, 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., publisher of The Business Journal, has been named the 41st recipient of the Leon S. Peters Award presented by the Fresno Chamber of Commerce.

Webster — who last year celebrated his 50th anniversary with the family publishing business — was surprised with the news Monday afternoon during the weekly downtown meeting of the Rotary Club of Fresno.

The award is named for Leon S. Peters, the son of Armenian immigrants who settled in Fowler as farmers. After the loss of his parents, Peters became a salesman and eventual owner of Fresno’s Valley Foundry and Machine Workers, which became a global supplier of ag equipment. Prior to his death in 1983, he became one of Fresno’s most renowned philanthropists.

The award is meant to honor people who have reached business and professional success as caring and moral servant leaders. 

Past Leon S. Peters Award winners include former Lyons Magnus CEO Robert Smittcamp (posthumously) in 2024, along with John Harris of Harris Farms; the late Sally Caglia of Caglia Enterprises in 2023; Tom Richards of the The Penstar Group in 2022; and Vinci Ricchiuti of P-R Farms in 2021.

Webster is the fourth-generation publisher of The Business Journal, a business-to-business newspaper serving Fresno, Kings, Madera and Tulare counties. The publication readers know today traces its roots back to 1886 when H.C. Miller founded a newspaper called the Abstract of Records that detailed public real estate transactions. The Business was purchased by Webster’s great-grandfather Morris Shelby Webster, a sheepherder, for $180 in 1888. 

The line of publishers continued with grandfather Norman A. Webster and father Gordon M. Webster, Sr., under whose leadership the business incorporated in 1976 and owned its first Downtown Fresno building.

Gordon M. Webster, Jr. has been involved with the paper in various capacities since graduating from Oregon State University in 1974, where he played four years of football for the Beavers. 

In 1981, he assumed the role of publisher when the paper was still known as the Fresno Daily Report, a daily legal newspaper. Ten years later, in 1991, he transformed the Fresno Daily Report into The Business Journal, hiring a newsroom and expanding its focus to include comprehensive news coverage of the region’s business community. Under his leadership, the publication’s circulation grew more than tenfold, and advertising sales more than 1,000%.

A native of Fresno, Webster graduated from Bullard High School in 1969. He is married with three grown children and four grandchildren. Throughout his career, he has played an active role in the community, serving as past president of several organizations, including the American Court and Commercial Newspaper Association, the Community Hospitals Foundation, Bullard Boosters, the Fresno County Athletic Hall of Fame, the Fresno Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club of Fresno.

Philanthropy is also important to the Webster family, which supports such organizations as The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Fresno County Athletic Hall of Fame and PAIN (Patients & Addicts in Need).

A fifth generation in the family business, daughter and Associate Publisher Ashley Webster Rudolph, is preparing to carry Webster’s vision into the future. A 15-year veteran of the company, Ashley came up through the circulation department, ensuring newspapers are delivered to subscribers. She even has done one of the early jobs her father did: walking down to the courthouse to pick up and file documents.

“I’ve had the privilege of working beside him for over 15 years, witnessing him run a successful family business and lead with integrity in the community,” Ashley said. “I’ve learned so much from him — he’s been the best dad, boss, mentor, and friend. It’s been an honor and privilege to be his daughter and to carry the Webster legacy forward into the next generation.

Webster and several other entrepreneurs, business leaders and businesses in Fresno will be recognized at the Valley Business Awards on March 19 at Pardini’s Catering.