In 1981 the NAACP initiated the Operation Fair Share Program in an effort to increase employment and strengthen minority entrepreneurship. Administered by the NAACP Development Department, the goal was to build a working relationship with private sector firms that would encourage more job opportunities and other economic benefits for blacks. Executive Director Benjamin Hooks began implementing Operation Fair Share by signing a joint agreement with Edison Electric Institute and American Gas Association in 1982. The seventy Fair Share Signatory Companies also included the Georgia Power Company, General Motors, McDonald’s Corporation, United Airlines, KMart Corporation, and Walt Disney Productions.