Like counties everywhere in the U.S., the County of Los Angeles, CA needs to maintain and expand its economic base. It requires within its borders industries that can contribute to the local economy. What industries can be found in the economic base that supports Los Angeles County, what industries other than the entertainment industry?
The filmmaking, i.e. entertainment industry, is not the only major industry in the County of Los Angeles, CA. Long Beach, with its busy port, underlines the important part that shipping plays in the region's economy. In fact, more than one tourist has been entertained by the port activity in southern Cal. Long Beach port ranks as one of the busiest in the entire United States.
Biomedical research also brings assurance of a growing economy to the County of Los Angeles, CA. Long Beach has research facilities that contribute significantly to the medical advances coming from southern Cal. Long Beach Memorial Hospital provides care to many of the sick residents of Long Beach. The Hospital sits adjacent to a separate research building. Other research scientists work at the local Veteran's Hospital and Research Center.
Periodically one of the Long Beach California hotels hosts a conference for those professionals taking part in the region's biomedical research. Such conferences can bring added travelers to the County of Los Angeles, CA. Long Beach attractions provide those traveler's with a pleasant way to spend any time available to them, either before, during or after the conference. The popularity of Long Beach attractions has contributed to the steady growth in the traffic at Long Beach Airport.
Desk clerks at the Long Beach California hotels provide guests, including conference-goers, with literature about the Long Beach Aquarium and about the Queen Mary, which sits in the Long Beach Harbor. Both of those spots draw a large percent of the tourists who come to the county of Los Angeles, CA. Long Beach conference-goers often join the tourists in the lines that form at the entrance to each of those spots.
Gift shops at both the Aquarium and the Queen Mary do a brisk business. There, both tourists and conference-goers search among the items on the shelves for something that could represent the county of Los Angeles, CA. Long Beach mementos recently seemed to be on the decline, now that the Spruce Goose has left its former "home" next to the Queen Mary.
Still, the model of a large ship, or even a toy shipping container, would be a fitting representation of one of the most important industries in southern Cal. Long Beach authorities, those who face the challenge of insuring greater security for the shipping industry, would like to see their efforts contribute to an increase in the income from tourists. Such an increase could possibly evolve from a dream into a reality, if the souvenir shops start to display model cargo ships and small toy shipping containers.
Maybe those toy shipping containers would sell better if they came with tiny figures, figures dressed to look like inspectors from Homeland Security.