El Segundo's diversity is its calling card. Its business community runs the gamut from accountants to urban planners, with high-tech corporations co-existing seamlessly with mom and pop stores.

Here are a few of our city's more notable industries.

El Segundo is known as the "Aerospace Capital of the World", a moniker it has proudly worn for the last half century.

Early aerospace pioneers such as North American Aviation, Douglas Aircraft and Hughes Aircraft located here after World War II, followed by the creation of Los Angeles Air Force Base and The Aerospace Corporation.

Today, El Segundo is home to Northrop Grumman, Boeing, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, four of the nation's largest defense firms.

Global Positioning Satellite systems, the Global Hawk unmanned aerial aircraft, and the F/A-18 are just a few examples of military technology developed in El Segundo.

With much of the country's intellectual capital centered here, El Segundo is unquestionably the place to be for aerospace and related support firms.

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Over the last few years, El Segundo has emerged as the destination of choice for a number of major players in the burgeoning creative sector. From long-standing corporate citizens such as Mattel--the world's largest toymaker headquartered here--to notable newcomer and globally renowned architectural legend Frank Gehry, El Segundo is undoubtedly a creative sector stronghold.

Among the reasons:

El Segundo continues to attract major engineering companies and consultants in a variety of fields. Since 1949, it has been home to Wyle Laboratories, one of the nation's largest high-tech engineering firms. Aura Systems and Seal Laboratories are also long-standing members of the community.

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El Segundo has long been a preferred location site for the entertainment industry.

Scenes from countless major movies, television shows, cable programs and other media have been filmed here, particularly in the downtown area and at El Segundo High School.

El Segundo is also centrally located between Hollywood and South Bay studios, attracting a spate of industry talent and technical support into the area.

In 2000, the Los Angeles Kings, Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Sparks moved their practice facilities to El Segundo and established the Toyota Sports Center (formerly HealthSouth) complex on Nash Street.

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El Segundo is synonymous with IT and the preferred base of operations for many of the world's most established high-tech firms, including Computer Sciences Corporation, Electronic Data Systems, BT, Oracle, Sun Microsystems and Xerox.

It has also become the preferred hotspot for data centers such as Equinix and 365 Main, thanks to its prime location, extensive fiber network and reasonably priced office space.

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El Segundo has been an industry town from its inception and it is still the site of one of the state's largest oil refineries.

It is also home to the El Segundo Generating Station power plant.

Much more than military aircraft parts are built in El Segundo.

A manufacturing mecca, El Segundo is where toys (Mattel), power semiconductors (International Rectifier) and motion control devices (Glentek) are made.

It is also the home base for surfing legend Tyler Hazikian, who designs and builds his custom longboards in the Smoky Hollow district, and famed inventor Eddie Paul, whose company E.P. Industries has developed such diverse products as four-dimensional cameras and innovative fire suppression pumps.

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