Business was the impetus for El Segundo's birth. In 1911, a team from Standard Oil scouted undeveloped land along the coast of Southern California as a potential site for the company's second refinery. The group purchased an 840-acre clump of sand dunes and bean fields seven miles north of Redondo Beach that would provide convenient access for tankers. Later that year, the refinery opened and laborers settled in the nearby area, initially living in pitched tents before eventually building bungalow-style permanent homes within walking distance to work. The site became known as "El Segundo" (which is Spanish for "the second") in honor of it being Standard's second refinery. Later, Standard became Chevron, which remains in operation today as one of the world's largest petroleum products companies.

Soon thereafter, El Segundo's first businesses sprang up along Richmond Street and Franklin Avenue. Other shops appeared on a dirt road that became Main Street a couple of years later. Early merchants included grocers, restaurants, pharmacies, hotels, department stores, banks, and one of the first Ford dealerships.

On January 18, 1917, El Segundo became an incorporated city with a population of 1,000 and a total of 50 business licenses. The town's pioneers established churches, schools, and police and fire services. Oil remained the town's only industry until 1930, when Los Angeles International Airport officially opened at Mines Field along El Segundo's northern border. LAX's growth and the advent of World War II resulted in a flood of aircraft companies such as Hughes, Northrop and Rockwell locating in El Segundo during the '40s and '50s. As those companies shifted their focus to defense, El Segundo was eventually dubbed "The Aerospace Capital of the World." That status became cemented in 1959 with the opening of Los Angeles Air Force Base and The Aerospace Corporation a year later.

With population numbers swelling from under 4,000 residents in 1940 to more than 14,000 people by the early '60s, acres of bean and strawberry fields gradually disappeared, to be replaced by new blocks of housing and paved roads as the town moved eastward. Meanwhile, a flurry of businesses opened and thrived in El Segundo's downtown to better serve the burgeoning population. During that heyday, downtown featured two auto dealerships, several markets and drug stores, a bowling alley, a couple of tailors and countless other shops and restaurants. Some memorable businesses from the past include Fiorante's Tailors, Floyd's Haircutting, Fournier's Sporting Goods, Cornet 5 & 10, Gay Nineties, Converse Drugs, Rea's Hardware and the Rose Bowl.

The proliferation of shopping malls and chain stores began to take its toll on downtown's retail core in the late '80s and early '90s, leading to the closure of several long-standing mom and pop businesses.

Conversely the eastern business sector of El Segundo flourished, as a diverse range of companies set up shop in industries ranging from high-tech to manufacturing and entertainment. Other than the City of Los Angeles, El Segundo boasts the highest number of Fortune 500 companies per capita in the region, as firms such as Mattel, Unocal, and Computer Sciences Corporation proudly established their world headquarters here. Though the town's residential population has leveled off at just over 16,000 people, its daytime employee numbers more than quadruple those totals. With demand for growth continually high, new developments, such as the mixed use Campus El Segundo project, are now moving forward. Most importantly, Congress' decision last year not to relocate Los Angeles Air Force Base assures that the South Bay's chief economic engine along with the nation's foremost intellectual capital will remain in El Segundo for many years to come.

To serve the eastside business population, El Segundo's downtown has seen a rise in new restaurants and professional service companies over the last decade. On the heels of a full-scale renovation in 2003, the downtown has also seen a flurry of new retail stores open over the last year, with the new Grand Park Plaza shopping center currently under construction and several upscale eateries in the works.

Through the years and multiple generations of families, El Segundo has managed to balance a small town charm that provides the highest possible quality of life for its residents with an ideal business environment.