George Fezell implemented Magnavox's innovative factory-direct business model that made the company's TVs the CE industry's most exclusive franchise in the 1950s and 1960s. Hired by legendary Magnavox president Frank Freimann, Fezell rose to vice president in 1963, then president of the consumer electronics division in 1968. Thanks to his efforts, Magnavox was noted by Fortune magazine the ninth in Fortune's 500 listing of U.S. Industrials in 1964. Fezell was a big supporter of the North American Retail Dealers Association (NARDA), he also was a member of EIA's Board of Governors from 1965 to 1975 and chairman of its Consumer Division. He was instrumental in the formation of the EIA Foundation (now called NSTEP) in 1969 and the Consumer Electronics Division of EIA, now called CEA.