NEA Electronics Chatsworth No. 6 Fastest Growing Company Overall (51.8%) NEA Electronics is a low-profile manufacturer in Chatsworth serving the aerospace industry. As the maker of specialized components for complex space missions, the customer base that needs to know about the company know it very well and return time and time again. That’s just the way President Dan Troiano likes it. “Our customers know us well and in my world that’s all that matters,” Troiano said. The developer and maker of separation systems used in satellites and rockets, NEA counts NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the major aerospace companies such as Boeing, Raytheon, and Loral Space Systems among its clients. The company also serves the growing private space industry developing low cost launch vehicles putting satellites into orbit. NEA Electronics took the number 6 spot on the fastest growing private companies list with a 51.8 percent growth in revenue from 2005 to 2006. An expanding business base and the maturity and reliability of the separation systems from NEA drives the growth of the company. Until a satellite reaches orbit, NEA components hold down the equipment attached to it, such as solar wings. Once in space, the equipment gets released. Unique to NEA parts is they are non-explosive, eliminating the residue and shock produced by explosive devices and are factory refurbishable for extended use. Flight heritage, or the successful use of the components in space, is important to NEA because the next customer coming to the company wants to use something that is proven, Troiano said. “We have that heritage in our products now because we’ve been part of many launches,” Troiano said. The company has been located in Chatsworth since its founding in 1995. Work gets subcontracted out to select smaller machine shops in the San Fernando Valley area. After a quarter century, Troiano said he knows his industry well and is in the loop about what companies are doing in making the next generation of satellites.