L.A.'s Air Force Base – A Technology Giant in Our Community

by Gary Toebben

Many people in L.A. County don’t know about one of the major engines to our economy: the Los Angeles Air Force Base, located in the City of El Segundo. The base has no runways, but serves as the epicenter of our region's aerospace industry. It is home to the Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC).

Activated back in 1954, under a different name, the base developed the first Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles and today, SMC is working to launch GPS III in 2014. That’s right, GPS, which is used by a billion people around the world — not to mention by our military, the Federal Aviation Administration and military users in 55 other countries — was developed at SMC.

Members of the Southwest Defense Alliance (SWDA) were in town last week for their spring conference and board meeting, focusing on the L.A. Air Force Base and the work of major defense contractors and L.A. Area Chamber members, including Northrop Grumman Corporation, The Boeing Co. and Raytheon Company. The Chamber is an alliance partner of SWDA, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group that works to bring attention and support to military and industrial aerospace installations and services in the six southwestern states.

According to the SWDA's Economic Impact Report on National Defense, which was debuted at a Chamber-hosted roundtable with former California Gov. Pete Wilson on Jan. 26, more than 1.1 million jobs in the State are tied to national defense — larger than the total employment base of the Silicon Valley. 

These high paying jobs, which provide the incomes to support our restaurants and retailers are in jeopardy as the U.S. Department of Defense begins to implement $500 billion in defense cuts and potentially billions of dollars in additional cuts. The Aerospace Corporation, which is literally connected to the L.A. Air Force Base by a pedestrian bridge, just announced an upcoming round of layoffs for the first time in nearly 20 years.

The Chamber and SWDA are on high-alert, working with our local elected officials here in L.A. and officials in Washington, D.C. to ensure that these cuts do not decimate the L.A. Air Force Base and our defense contracting community.

There is also good news. Boeing and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. announced last week a joint procurement contract to build and launch four commercial "minivan-size communication satellites." This will mean about $1 billion in revenue for our region.

In addition to working to retain existing high-tech jobs, the Chamber is also working with employers, education and workforce development partners to advance Science, Engineering, Math and Technology (STEM) education in Los Angeles. This commitment to STEM education will ensure a new generation of L.A. engineers and scientists driving aerospace and defense innovations with wide reaching applications — just as Los Angeles engineers did throughout the 20th century.

During a briefing with the SWDA, Air Force General Roger Teague, vice commander of SMC, called GPS "our gift to the world." We couldn’t agree more. Our region’s aerospace community has been producing cutting edge technological advances in the form of GPS satellites, micro-electronics, the F/A 18 to C-17 aircraft for more than half a century. It’s now our job to ensure this legacy continues.

And that's The Business Perspective.