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industry.
A quiet, serious person, he is the largest industrialist of Bloomington, Indiana,
home of Indiana University, and he has
served as the president of its Chamber
of Commerce.
Although experienced persons considered this small town of less than thirty
thousand population unfit for TV stations, Terzian has two successful TV and
radio stations there. He is the largest
producer of TV tuners in the United
States and caters to such large companies as General Electric and Westing-
house. In addition, he is the largest
manufacturer of selenium rectifiers —
new devices for electrical and electronic
equipment, converting AC into DC current, and vice versa.
His WTTV-TV station, started in
1949, in one year became a prosperous
enterprise, now reaching an audience of
over three hundred thousand viewers in
one of the country's densest TV-viewing
districts. Starting with only fifteen employees, he now employs more than
seventy-five. He replaced his 650 foot
tower with a giant 1000 foot transmitter
tower. He has also constructed equipment for broadcasting for Purdue University, located in Lafayette, a hundred
miles away.
Sarkis Terzian directs his enterprises
under the name of "Sarkis Terzian, Incorporated;" it belongs solely to himself
and his wife.
After working for ten years with the
Atwater Kent Company of Philadelphia,
he joined the Radio Corporation of
America and was sent to Bloomington to
put RCA in competition in the production of small radios for automobiles and
tabletops. By the end of World War
II he had resigned from RCA to start
his own company for the manufacture of
electronic components.
Terzian recounts: "Everybody tries to
build TV receivers, but no one thinks of
manufacturing small but essential parts.
I think that by concentrating thoroughly
on the improvement and manufacture of
a single part a company can produce
a better product for all the TV manufacturing companies concerned, rather
than producing the complete TV sets in
inexperienced employees, as done by the
ARMENIAN Digest
large manufacturers."
His decision had major consequences,
for he now sells tuners to half of the
companies producing TV sets, and his
other components account for a substantial portion of the nation's market.
He and his wife have two children,
Tommy and Patricia.
LEVON S. PETERS
Levon S. Peters was born on October
25, 1905, in Fresno, California. His
father, Samuel, was a native of Bitlis
who married Lily Bagdassarian, daughter
of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Bagdassarian of
Fresno. Samuel Peters migrated to the
United States after the 1895 massacres
and settled in Fresno in 1896.
Upon his graduation from high school,
Levon Peters assisted his father in agricultural work and then, in 1929. he became a salesman for the Valley Foundry
Machine Works Company, manufacturers
of water pumps. He rose to assistant
manager of the sales department and
then to a directorship of the company,
which he purchased in 1939 and whose
business operations he thereafter began
to modify and redirect.
His company manufactures and sells
vats and machines for preparing wine.
Today this enterprise takes up fifty per
cent of its business and produces eighty
per cent of the wine producing equipment in use in the United States. In 1950
he expanded his business by buying additional land and constructing additional
buildings. The company constructs, upon
individual order, machines and equipment for a variety of purposes such as
pulverizing, molding, reshaping, cattle
and poultry feeding, and chemical engineering.
During World War II he organized
and headed a group that manufactured
various war materials for the Department
of Defense, in appreciation of which he
was four times awarded the Army-Navy
"E" medal.
On November 19, 1943 he married
Alice Aprigian. With his brother Karnig
he owns a large tract of land where they
grow almonds and walnuts.
He has been very active in the work
of many organizations, to which he has
contributed both his talents and his financial resources. His major enterprise
was the fund raising campaign for the
Fresno community hospital. The volunteer committee that he organized succeeded in raising over a million and a
half dollars. Also, he has been president
of the Armenian-American citizens' organization of the Fowler district, and
president as well of that organization's
California section.
He is a member of Las Palmas Lodge
No. 366 of the California Masons and
is a 32 nd degree Shriner. He is also a
member of the Elks, the Fresno Marine
Union, the San Francisco Commonwealth
Club, and the central executive caretaker
committee of Haigazian College in Beirut. In 1954-1955 he was president of
the Fresno Rotary Club, and in 1958
president of the Fresno County and City
Chamber of Commerce. His other presidencies include the Fresno Community
Hospital, and the Fresno Employers' Association.
He serves as a director of the Fresno
Regional Foundation, the Fresno State
College Advisory Board, the Fresno Boys
Club, Fresno United Crusade, and the
Advance Gifts Division of the United
Crusade. His memberships include Volunteer Hospital Planning Committee,
Valley Children's Hospital Advisory
Board, Statewide Regional Hospital and
Related Health Facilities Planning Committee, Fresno State College Board of
Governors, Fresno State College Business
Advisory Board.
167
Object Description
| Title | Scrapbook |
| Object type | Photo album |
| Digital collection | Leon S. Peters Papers |
| Physical collection | Leon S. Peters papers |
| Folder structure | Biographical_information |
Description
| Title | Page 40 |
| Physical description | 35.9 cm. x 30.6 cm. |
| Full text search | industry. A quiet, serious person, he is the largest industrialist of Bloomington, Indiana, home of Indiana University, and he has served as the president of its Chamber of Commerce. Although experienced persons considered this small town of less than thirty thousand population unfit for TV stations, Terzian has two successful TV and radio stations there. He is the largest producer of TV tuners in the United States and caters to such large companies as General Electric and Westing- house. In addition, he is the largest manufacturer of selenium rectifiers — new devices for electrical and electronic equipment, converting AC into DC current, and vice versa. His WTTV-TV station, started in 1949, in one year became a prosperous enterprise, now reaching an audience of over three hundred thousand viewers in one of the country's densest TV-viewing districts. Starting with only fifteen employees, he now employs more than seventy-five. He replaced his 650 foot tower with a giant 1000 foot transmitter tower. He has also constructed equipment for broadcasting for Purdue University, located in Lafayette, a hundred miles away. Sarkis Terzian directs his enterprises under the name of "Sarkis Terzian, Incorporated;" it belongs solely to himself and his wife. After working for ten years with the Atwater Kent Company of Philadelphia, he joined the Radio Corporation of America and was sent to Bloomington to put RCA in competition in the production of small radios for automobiles and tabletops. By the end of World War II he had resigned from RCA to start his own company for the manufacture of electronic components. Terzian recounts: "Everybody tries to build TV receivers, but no one thinks of manufacturing small but essential parts. I think that by concentrating thoroughly on the improvement and manufacture of a single part a company can produce a better product for all the TV manufacturing companies concerned, rather than producing the complete TV sets in inexperienced employees, as done by the ARMENIAN Digest large manufacturers." His decision had major consequences, for he now sells tuners to half of the companies producing TV sets, and his other components account for a substantial portion of the nation's market. He and his wife have two children, Tommy and Patricia. LEVON S. PETERS Levon S. Peters was born on October 25, 1905, in Fresno, California. His father, Samuel, was a native of Bitlis who married Lily Bagdassarian, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Bagdassarian of Fresno. Samuel Peters migrated to the United States after the 1895 massacres and settled in Fresno in 1896. Upon his graduation from high school, Levon Peters assisted his father in agricultural work and then, in 1929. he became a salesman for the Valley Foundry Machine Works Company, manufacturers of water pumps. He rose to assistant manager of the sales department and then to a directorship of the company, which he purchased in 1939 and whose business operations he thereafter began to modify and redirect. His company manufactures and sells vats and machines for preparing wine. Today this enterprise takes up fifty per cent of its business and produces eighty per cent of the wine producing equipment in use in the United States. In 1950 he expanded his business by buying additional land and constructing additional buildings. The company constructs, upon individual order, machines and equipment for a variety of purposes such as pulverizing, molding, reshaping, cattle and poultry feeding, and chemical engineering. During World War II he organized and headed a group that manufactured various war materials for the Department of Defense, in appreciation of which he was four times awarded the Army-Navy "E" medal. On November 19, 1943 he married Alice Aprigian. With his brother Karnig he owns a large tract of land where they grow almonds and walnuts. He has been very active in the work of many organizations, to which he has contributed both his talents and his financial resources. His major enterprise was the fund raising campaign for the Fresno community hospital. The volunteer committee that he organized succeeded in raising over a million and a half dollars. Also, he has been president of the Armenian-American citizens' organization of the Fowler district, and president as well of that organization's California section. He is a member of Las Palmas Lodge No. 366 of the California Masons and is a 32 nd degree Shriner. He is also a member of the Elks, the Fresno Marine Union, the San Francisco Commonwealth Club, and the central executive caretaker committee of Haigazian College in Beirut. In 1954-1955 he was president of the Fresno Rotary Club, and in 1958 president of the Fresno County and City Chamber of Commerce. His other presidencies include the Fresno Community Hospital, and the Fresno Employers' Association. He serves as a director of the Fresno Regional Foundation, the Fresno State College Advisory Board, the Fresno Boys Club, Fresno United Crusade, and the Advance Gifts Division of the United Crusade. His memberships include Volunteer Hospital Planning Committee, Valley Children's Hospital Advisory Board, Statewide Regional Hospital and Related Health Facilities Planning Committee, Fresno State College Board of Governors, Fresno State College Business Advisory Board. 167 |
