Company Information Research Guide

Strategies to Keep in Mind

• The amount of information available on a single company will depend on whether the company is publicly or privately owned.
• All public companies (owned by stockholders) are required by law to publish their financial information.  This information is available for free at the Security and Exchange Commission's Web site.
• Privately held companies are not required to disclose any information about the organization's operations or financial standing.
• Sources that contain information on private companies often rely on estimates or information volunteered by the company.  Consulting multiple sources is often a good idea since estimates on a particular company will vary.

Print Sources
Print directories, industry surveys, and company analyses are the best place to find a company's full name, parent organization, contact information, and officers (just to name a few but not all types of information available in print).  More importantly, this information is easier to find and more trustworthy than many online sources.  However, information in print goes out of date sooner than electronic information due to the length of time of the publishing process.

Online Database Sources
Online databases and indexes are a compromise between print and Internet sources. They provide access to articles from print sources.  The electronic format offers features that are not available in print such as full-text searching and access to a wide variety of publications at one time.

Internet Sources
The Internet is a great source for finding up-to-the-minute company information like stock quotes, news and product information.  Business research on the Internet is growing exponentially as more and more industry leaders make information available online.  But the nebulous nature of the Internet can make company research very frustrating as much of the information cannot be trusted or is not very useful. Many times it is still easier to use the more standard print sources.

Print Sources

Directories (click on the title to get call number and record in a new window)

National
America's Corporate Families: the Billion Dollar Directory
LexisNexis Corporate Affiliations  
Million Dollar Directory
D&B Directory of Service Companies
Ward’s Business Directory of U. S. Private and Public Companies

   
State
Illinois Industrial Directory 
Illinois Manufacturers Directory  
Illinois Services Directory
Regional Industrial Buying Guide/North Central Tri-State
 
 
Local
Chicago Area Business Directory
Chicago Job Bank
LaSalle bank guide : major publicly held corporations and financial institutions headquartered in Illinois
How to Get a Job in Chicago 

Company Analyses and Descriptions
100 Best Companies to Work for in America  
International Directory of Company Histories
Mergent Bank and Finance Manual  
Mergent's Handbook of Common Stocks
Mergent Industrial Manual
Mergent public utility & transportation manual

Periodical Indexes in Paper (shelved in periodical section)

Business Periodicals Index
Chicago Tribune Index
New York Times Index
 
 
Industry Surveys

Mergent's Industry Review
Standard and Poor's Industry Surveys
U.S. Industry & Trade Outlook 
 
Online Database Sources

Business Source Elite: provides full text for over 960 journals covering business, management, economics, finance, banking, accounting, and much more.

Regional Business News: covers 75 business journals, newspapers, and newswires from all metropolitan and rural areas within the United States.

Internet Sources

Edgar (SEC): The Edgar database contains all corporate financial information that is filed by law with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  Filings such as yearly (10-K) reports, quarterly (10-Q), and special filings are all available and searchable for free. 
 

Hoovers.com: Hoovers has long been one of the best known names in business and investment information.  Hoovers Online is a free Internet tool that provides much of the same trustworthy information found in their print products. 

Ceoexpress: One of the largest business and financial portals on the Internet.  Contains links to business magazines, news wires, investments sites, government sites, leisure links, and much, much more.

AmCity.com: The home page of American City Business Journals.  From this site the online researcher can access business journals for 41 US cities.  These journals provide online articles pertaining to local business news. 
  
PrNewswire.com: As the home page says, a "source of immediate news from corporations worldwide for media, business, the financial community, and the individual investor."

Businesswire.com: One of the first newswires to provide business information on the Internet.  It provides breaking stories on companies, business and industry.
  
US Census Bureau: The US Census Bureau's economic information is a very valuable source of company, business, and industry information that is offered for free on the Internet.

Secretary of State (Illinois) Corporate Name Availability Search: Official names and addresses of corporations filed with the State of Illinois.
  
Kompass.com: (The business-to-business search engine) Kompass has been a trusted publisher of business information.  The Kompass site provides a good deal of this information for free.   
 
Bigcharts.com: Easy-to-use investment research Web site providing access to professional-level research tools like interactive charts, quotes, industry analysis, intraday stock screeners, as well as market news & commentary.  
  
North American Industry Classification System (NAICS): The North American Industry Classification System is the new standard code system to describe business establishments and industries, replacing the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes.