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Scope:
This guide is a selected list of resources that will be useful
for locating information on U.S. private companies.
These resources include print materials available in the Stewart
Library, and electronic resources, some of which may be available
only to WSU students, faculty, and staff.
Table
of Contents
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- Ward's Business Directory of U.S. Private and Public Companies
Reference Table 6 HG4057.A575 2003
- Utah Directory of Business & Industry
Reference Table 6
Provides basic directory information on small local companies.
Also includes sales range.
- Hoover's Handbook of Private Companies
Reference Desk HG4057.A1 H662
Covers over 600 of "the largest and most influential enterprises
in the U.S." Each 2 page profile provides a brief description
of the company, its history, 10 year table of basic financials,
as well as a list of competitors.
- Directory of Corporate Affiliations Reference Table
6 HG4057.A219
Provides basic directory information. Vol. IV provides "who owns
whom" help in determining relationships between companies.
- Standard & Poor's register of corporations, directors
and executives Reference Table 6 HG4057.S67
Lists more than 45,000 public and private companies. Information
includes address, corporate officers, brief description of business,
SICs, number of employees and annual sales figures. Biographical
information on corporate officers in Vol. 2. Geographic, SIC and
personal name access in Volume 3.
- Lexis-Nexis
Academic Universe
To locate the private company directory information, select
the Business category, then Company Profiles. At the search
screen, select U.S. Private Companies as the Source.
- Switchboard
To locate persons or businesses. Searchable by category
or business name.
- Thomas Register of
Manufacturers
Internet based Directory of American manufacturers.
- Corporateinformation.com
A comprehensive set of links to private and public companies.
Registration is required.
- Companies Online
Access to over 100,000 public and private companies, by name,
location or industry. Sites provide basic directory information
and link to the company's home page.
- ABI/Inform
Covers U.S. and international business periodicals in the
broad area of business and management. To find articles on a specific
company, select the 'advanced search' tab, and choose the 'company'
field to the right of the search box.
- Business
Source Premier
To find articles on a specific company, select the 'advanced search'
tab, and choose the 'company entity' field to the right of the
search box.
- Lexis-Nexis
Academic Universe
Three subsections under the Business category, Company Profiles,
Business News, and Industry & Market News, provide coverage
of over 10 million companies, including basic directory information.
Under the News category, select Wires to locate wire services
focusing on corporate press releases; U.S. News for regional and
state news sources; World News for international sources; and
General News.
-
Business & Industry
Covers international business daily newspapers as well as the
general US business press and leading trade magazines and newsletters.
Good source for information on private companies, industries,
products and markets for manufacturing and services.
- Business
Dateline
Great local and regional coverage, including private companies.
Selected fulltext. 1985 to present. Updated weekly.
- Business
Wire News
Great local and regional coverage, including private companies.
To find articles on a specific company, select the 'advanced search'
tab, and choose the 'company entity' field to the right of the
search box.
Trade magazines will often
publish detailed articles on private companies. These magazines
are usually devoted to a particular industry.
- American
City Business Journals
Access to local business journals that provide news stories from
a local business area perspective.
- The Directory of Business Information Sources
Reference HF54.52 .U5 D567
Includes associations, newsletters, magazines & journals,
trade shows, directories & databases, and Web sites.
- Lexis-Nexis
Academic Universe
This database indexes tons of trade publications. Select
'Business' from the main menu on the left hand side of the screen,
and select 'Business News' from the menu provided.
Associations and trade publications are potential sources of information
on many private companies. Many have Web pages.
- Encyclopedia of Associations Reference Desk
- Encyclopedia of Associations (International Organizations)
Reference Desk
- Yearbook of International Organizations JX1904
.A42
- National trade and professional associations of the United
States, 1999 Reference HD2425.N37 1999
- The Directory of Business Information Sources
Reference HF54.52 .U5 D567 2000
Includes associations, newsletters, magazines & journals,
trade shows, directories & databases, and Web sites.
- Associations on the Net
(Internet Public Library)
"A collection of over 2000 Internet sites providing information
about a wide variety of professional and trade associations, cultural
and art organizations, political parties and advocacy groups,
labor unions, academic societies, and research institutions. Abstracts
summarizing information about the association and its site are
provided."
Some business periodicals have special issues dedicated to private
company issues; most are company rankings. A few of these are listed
below. For others, consult the Directory of
Business Periodical Special Issues.
- Forbes Also available
in print at Stewart Library (Periodical HF1. F692) and
online in Business
Source Premier (WSU ID required for off campus access)
Forbes publishes an annual list of the 400 largest private companies
ranked by sales, which usually appears in the December issues.
- Inc. Also available
in print at Stewart Library (Periodical HD1. I36) and
online in Business
Source Premier (WSU ID required for off campus access)
"The Inc. 500" is Inc. magazine's guide to the fasted growing
privately held companies.
- The
Forbes 500 Top Private Companies
Gives the top 500 private companies and their rankings.
Click on the company names to obtain a brief write-up on the firm.
- The Forbes 200 Best
Small Companies in America
- Inc. 500 (via subscription)
Inc.'s Annual List of America's Fastest-Growing Private Companies.
Each year in mid-October, Inc. magazine releases its Inc. 500
issue, which lists the fastest-growing privately held U.S. companies.
- Price's List
of Lists
Many of these lists present information in the form of rankings
of different people, organizations, companies, etc. Many of the
links are industry categories.
Guides to the literature
are useful in leading you to many other sources that not listed
in this guide.
- Business Information Sources Reference HF5351.D16
1993
- Business Information: How to Find It: How to Use It
Reference Table 6 HF5356.L36 1992
- Encyclopedia of business information sources Reference
Z7164.C81E93
Researching private companies
can be a complex process. Private companies are not required to
submit financial data to the SEC, and as a result, information on
these companies is not readily available.
Private company stock
is typically owned by the principles in the company (founders, family
members key employees, etc.). If a stockholder wishes to sell
his stock, he may sell to anyone he chooses, but typically, it is
offered to existing stockholders. There is no marketplace to buy
and sell shares of private companies. Financial disclosures
of privately held companies do not have to be made to the public.
These companies do not publish annual reports or share information
about themselves to major business publishers. This is also true
for subsidiaries of publicly held firms. The parent company
reports information as a whole, making information on the division
or subsidiary harder to find.
Often, there is not much
to distinguish a small private company from its owner. It
is a good idea to search not only the company name, but personal
names as well (owners, employees, etc.). A great place to
name search is news sources (local newspapers, etc.). Another
way to find information on private companies is to look for other
companies that they might be affiliated with and search these company
names.
- First, use a directory to verify company name, address, and
phone number. Some directories will include additional information
such as company size, number of employees, sales, products and
services, and SIC. If you cannot find your company in one
of the directories listed above, it may be because it is very
small or a subsidiary of another company.
- Search newspaper and journal indexes, especially those covering
a company's hometown publications. See WSU's
Business & Economics Databases page for a complete list,
including information on contents, currency, coverage, and access.
- Search trade journals and industry newsletters relevant to
the company's line of business.
- Look at the company homepage. Most companies have their own
home pages. If you are trying to locate information about a company,
use their name in the URL address. For example: http://www.ford.com
for Ford Motor Company
- Look at public company financial reports, especially those
you think might be affiliated with your company. Disclosure documents
(available in the Lexis-Nexis
database) of these public firms sometimes mention private companies
with which they do business. An easy way to identify whether your
company is mentioned in a long financial report is to use the
Edit command on your browser. In the pull-down menu, select 'Find
in Page' and type in the company name in the blank. Click on 'Find
Next' to highlight your company in the report. The
Company page will contain sites to access financial reports.
- There are several Web sites that offer reports on private companies-
for a fee. These include Dun
& Bradstreet and Experian
(formerly TRW).
Still
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