Alec was the General Manager of Shelburne Farms before being elected President in 1988. He helped plan and coordinate the development of Shelburne Farms as a nonprofit organization and has been active in local land use planning, agriculture and environmental education projects for many years. In 2006, Alec was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Middlebury College. Vermont Governor Madeleine Kunin honored Webb in 1990 for his extraordinary contributions to Vermont, and he received the Vermont Land Trust's Richard W. Carbin Community Conservation Award in 1998.