Ducommun Incorporated is a global provider of manufacturing and engineering services, developing electronic, engineered and structural solutions for applications in aerospace, defense and industrial markets.
Founded in 1849, Ducommun is recognized as the oldest continuously operating business in California[1] and today manufactures structural and electronic components, sub-assemblies and engineered products for a wide range of commercial, military and space platforms including Boeing 737 and 787, Airbus A320 and Airbus A220, Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) and F/A-18 fighter jets, C-17 heavy lift cargo jet, the Apache, Chinook and Black Hawk helicopters, as well as other key missile and defense programs.
Ducommun's approximately 2,500 employees work at its 15 performance centers located in California, Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, New York, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, Washington, and Guaymas, Mexico. Ducommun’s corporate headquarters is based out of Costa Mesa, California.
History
Ducommun was established in 1849 by Charles Louis Ducommun who was born in France and moved to Switzerland, where he and his 12 siblings were raised. A watchmaker by trade, Charles emigrated to the United States in the early 1840s, and opened a watchmaking business in New York City. To escape the populated city, he moved his business south and eventually embarked on a grueling journey from Fort Smith Arkansas, along the Santa Fe Trail, to California, lured by the discovery of gold in the area. Charles traveled on foot for the nine-month journey encountering harsh weather, starvation, illness and other threats. Charles arrived in Los Angeles in 1849 and opened a watch store. Over the next several decades, the business became a general store for miners and ranchers, then a hardware store catering to Los Angeles’s many growth industries including construction and oil exploration.