The reports of aerospace’s death in Southern California have been greatly exaggerated. Indeed, Los Angeles remains a center for aerospace research, design and manufacturing.

Although Northrop Grumman Corp. has announced that it will move its corporate headquarters from Los Angeles to the Washington, D.C., area, the company plans to keep its engineering and manufacturing operations, about 21,000 jobs, here in Los Angeles County. This includes its aerospace headquarters in Redondo Beach.

Also in L.A. County, the Boeing Co. owns and operates a plant in Long Beach that employs about 5,000 highly skilled workers who manufacture the last wide-body military aircraft in the United States, the C-17 Globemaster III. Like clockwork, these workers, along with thousands of others employed at many hundreds of C-17 suppliers throughout California and the residents of the many communities across Los Angeles County and state who are dependent on this program, all sit anxiously and wait as the U.S. Congress each year decides whether – and to what degree – to fund the procurement of more C-17 planes, the only long-range, heavy-lift aircraft that has the reliability, capacity and versatility to meet all our military airlift needs and support our global humanitarian relief efforts across the globe.

However, this is not simply a story about a plane.

Historically, Southern California’s climate and creative culture have always attracted entrepreneurs and dreamers whose imaginations developed, cultivated and supported a skilled work force of scientists, engineers and technicians who transformed our region into a world leader in aerospace design and technology. They were pioneers, educated and self-taught men and women who set the standard for innovation through sheer will, brainpower and determination, and sparked a technological boom that produced some of mankind’s greatest accomplishments: commercial aviation, satellite technology and space flight.

Today, however, we live and work in a global economy where location is not permanent, but by choice. In today’s highly competitive and rapidly changing global economy, we can no longer sit idly on the sidelines, witnessing the continuous exodus of businesses and the quiet attrition of the highly skilled work force that powers the economic engines of Los Angeles County. More than ever, it is imperative that we work together to support and focus our collective energies on policies and programs that create a healthy business climate to generate much needed middle-class jobs. However, this begs the question: What does it mean to have a healthy business climate?

Of course, a healthy business climate means things like available commercial and industrial land, having an educated and skilled work force, and access to capital. But it also includes protecting what Stanford University sociologist Woody Powell calls our “anchor tenants.” These are businesses that provide economic character and culture to our region. In short, these are businesses that are part of the fabric of our communities and integral to producing enduringly successful communities.

Anchor tenants

Boeing and Northrop are two of L.A. County’s most important anchor tenants. Combined they directly employ a work force of almost 33,000 people, who not only collaborate daily on programs of enormous value to this country’s national defense and well-being, but who add value to our region through their strong partnerships with numerous community-based organizations, schools and universities. Let’s not forget that Boeing and Northrop are more than just planes and satellites. They are companies comprised of dedicated and talented individuals, who not only create cutting-edge products but share in their success by providing millions of dollars annually in company and employee charitable dollars and tens of thousands of volunteer hours to numerous organizations that support the well-being of California’s communities.

Here in L.A. County, the loss of either Boeing or Northrop would have enormous repercussions for our county’s huge manufacturing base. For instance, almost 5,000 direct workers would lose their jobs if Boeing’s C-17 production was shut down. The same number of highly skilled workers would lose their jobs if production and development was halted at Northrop’s El Segundo-based Integrated Systems unit. The impact in human terms could be further home foreclosures, and the economic and emotional instability of those families and the communities in which they live. Those workers would lose jobs that currently provide a middle-class standard of living with health care benefits and the ability to retire with dignity. The impact in terms of lost tax dollars alone would be felt across the county at all levels of government as they struggle to pay for critical community services and social programs. That’s because anchor tenants like Boeing and Northrop inject millions in tax dollars that help employ teachers, school bus drivers, police officers and firefighters. It’s not hyperbole to say that Boeing’s and Northrop Grumman’s loss is also your local school’s loss.

If we look at the history of aerospace science in Southern California, we see that the past is prologue, and that the foundation for tomorrow’s enduring communities has already been laid by the thousands of Southern California aerospace workers living in and contributing to these communities. Let’s continue the tradition and allow tomorrow’s communities the same opportunities to grab hold and continue to build upon this foundation.

At the end of the day, what is good for Boeing, Northrop and aerospace manufacturing, is also good for the communities of Los Angeles County. Yes, this is a story about more than just a plane.

Maria Elena Durazo is executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. Bill Allen is president and chief executive of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.