Morris County Library > Reference > Company research
Company research
- Company home pages, the best place to get the most information
- Contact information, address/phone, whois
- Profiles & reports, NJ Business Gateway, state filings, SEC documents, nonprofit profiles, annual reports
- Lists & rankings, the biggest, the best, the fastest growing
- Company news, management, products, strategy or failure
- International companies, directories, reports and news by continent or country
- Tips & tools for job seekers
Company home pages
The best place to begin researching any company is its own home page. A typical home page includes company contact information, product catalogs, links to financial reports and employment opportunities. The standard format for company homepages is http://www.companyname.com (www.prudential.com) or http://www.companyinitials.com (www.ibm.com). If this doesn't work, run the name through Google.
Contact information
These databases will let you search by company name, product or location. The best place to find a company's toll free number is on its Web site.
- ReferenceUSA...requires Morris County library card
- Dun's Million Dollar Database
Profiles & reports
U.S. public (stock-offering) companies are the easiest to research because they are required by law to disclose detailed financial data. Small private firms congregate on the other end of the spectrum. Sometimes the best you can do is verify their address and line of business. If you do not find the information you need on the Internet, ask your librarian for help.
- Dun's Million Dollar Database...16 million U.S. company profiles; searchable and sortably by industry, size and location. In-house use ony.
- Reference USA...basic company profile
- Datamonitor Reports (part of EBSCO Business Source Elite, select "company profiles")
- Better Business Bureau Reports...national database of "reliability" reports (good and bad)
- NJ Business Gateway...browse company names & business owners (free); reports cost $5.00 (incorporation date, registered agent name & company address). Call (609) 292-9292
- NY Corporation and Business Entity database...free information
- Public records...free databases maintained by states, counties and cities--check the company's home state Dept. of Taxation and Secretary of State's Office/Division of Commercial Recording for additional records and fee-based services.
- Yahoo Finance...excellent for public company news and details
- CorporateInformation...company information by location or industry (internationally!)
- Guidestar...profiles 1.7 million non-profits
- Securities & Exchange filings & company database...U.S. public company 10Ks provide very detailed financial information
Lists & rankings
- Best Companies for Working Mothers (Working Mother)
- Forbes Lists...best small companies, largest public companies, global high performers, best places for business
- Fortune Lists...500, Global 500, Best Companies to Work For, Fastest Growing Companies, Most Admired Companies
- Franchise 500 (Entrepreneur)
- Inc. 500...fastest growing private companies (employers, finance, R & D etc.)
- Dun's Regional Business Directory...largest companies (ranked by sales) in northern & central NJ
- New Jersey Business Book of Lists...largest architecture firms, real estate developers, manufacturers, engineers, etc.
- NJBiz Book of Lists...best places to work in NJ, cable servcie providers, environmental firms, event planners, management consultants, public relations firms etc.
- Ward's Business Directory...companies ranked nationally and state level by SIC & NAIC. Also largest public, private and employers for each state.
- Reference USA and Duns Million Dollar databases can be used to cull custom lists of companies by type of business, size (sales/employees) and location (including county). Database results are not sortable to create comprehensive rankings.
News
Some companies command international attention, others are covered only by the local media. Corporate events reported by national newspapers, business magazines and trade journals are the easiest to find. Local papers are harder to research. Many Web-based news services require personal subscriptions. Some of these databases may be available to you (free of charge) at your public library. Ask your librarian!
- Bloomberg News.....some free information.....but the good stuff requires a subscription
- Business News New Jersey.....local focus, searchable archives
- Businesswire.....search by company or IPO
- Federal contract awards.....search for "awardees" by name, subject or location
- Local newspapers.....some offer free archives
- PR Newswire.....free!
- Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ).... Need older articles? index beginning 1989 is available at all public libraries in Morris County
International
Need to locate a supplier in Asia? Interested in obtaining an annual report for a German company? Researching the players in the global telecommunications industry? Go straight to the source!
- Dun & Bradstreet ...free company look-ups, address & phone (select a country)
- International telephone books
Infobel offers both white and yellow pages - GlobalEdge (Michigan State University)
Huge list of great links to country-specific manufacturer/supplier directories - Europages
Contacts for 500,000 companies ...plus catalogs, news, trade fairs and organizations - Fortune Global 500
Company profiles presented by size, country or industry - International stock exchanges
Check here for annual reports and financial data...many offer English-language translations.
Interested in .....small business startup.....investment tools?
http://www.mclib.info/company.html
© Morris County Library (NJ)
22 July 2008