Northrop Grumman Corp. announced late Monday that it will become the latest large Los Angeles company to move its corporate headquarters out of the area. The defense contractor plans to relocate to the Washington, D.C. area by next year to be closer to its large government customers.
The nation’s second largest defense contractor, which manufactures ships, submarines and planes, said it was scouting locations in the District of Columbia and suburbs in Maryland and Virginia. The company already bases its electronic systems, information systems, technical services and much of its shipbuilding businesses in the area.
The announcement comes a few days after former chief operating officer Wesley Bush took over as chief executive from Ron Sugar, who took an early retirement.
“As a global security company with a large customer base in the Washington, D.C. region, this move will enable us to better serve our nation and customers,” Bush said in a statement.
Northrop Aircraft Inc. was founded in 1939 and acquired competitor Grumman Corp. in 1994. Aerospace still forms the core of the company’s only West Coast-based division, which employs about 14,300 people in Redondo Beach and El Segundo. It also has facilities in Carson and Woodland Hills.
The aerospace systems unit is not affected by the corporate move, the company said. That partially pleased Congresswoman Jane Harman (D-Venice), who said she called Bush with her concerns after the announcement.
“Rocket scientists don’t grow on trees, and maintaining the region’s aerospace industrial base is essential for national security and the local economy,” Harman said in a statement. “These are the women and men who won the Cold War, and the synergy between the L.A. Air Force Base’s Space & Missile Systems Center, the Aerospace Corporation and nearby industry is more important than ever.”
Northrop Grumman has 120,000 total employees worldwide, including 30,000 in California. The new corporate office would employ about 300 people, but Northrop did not say how many corporate jobs now in Los Angeles County would be eliminated.
Once home to many Fortune 500 companies, Los Angeles County has increasingly been reshaped into a center for small to mid-sized companies. Over the last five years, companies ranging from Spanish-language broadcaster Univision Communications Inc., hospitality giant Hilton Hotels Inc. and speciality health care provider DaVita Inc. have moved their corporate headquarters out of the area.
Northrop is one of the few major U.S. defense contractors not already based near the nation’s capital. Lockheed Martin Corp. has headquarters in Bethesda, Md., and General Dynamics Corp is based in Falls Church, Va.
Earlier in the day, Northrop shares closed down $1, or less than 2 percent, to $56.85 on the New York Stock Exchange.
