Recommended resources
- Business Source Complete This link opens in a new windowBusiness Source Complete is the world's definitive scholarly business database, providing the leading collection of bibliographic and full text content, including indexing and abstracts for the most important scholarly business journals back as far as 1886. In addition, searchable cited references are provided for more than 1,300 journals.
- Nexis Uni This link opens in a new windowNexis Uni features more than 15,000 news, business and legal sources from LexisNexis—including U.S. Supreme Court decisions dating back to 1790—with an intuitive interface that offers quick discovery across all content types, personalization features such as Alerts and saved searches and a collaborative workspace with shared folders and annotated documents.
- Gale Business: Insights This link opens in a new windowEasily find information on companies, industries and more in the context of timely news, statistical data, and in-depth reports.
Resources for "hard to find" Company info
- America's Largest Private CompaniesPublished by Forbes magazine. The list can be sorted by name, rank, industry, state, revenues, and employees.
- FedSpending.orgFedSpending.org provides information on government grants and contracts. Use this database to search for private companies that have secured contracts and/or grants with the federal government.
- First DataThis company provides historical stock information for a price, but does provide discounts for education and could potentially be open to negotiation.
- FormDs.comTracks investments into startups, growing businesses, hedge funds, and private equity firms via Form D (also known as REGD or REGDEX) filed with the SEC by nearly all startups and investment firms when they raise money.
- glassdoorSearch your company on this site to see what current and former employees have to say about the company. Does it match what the company says about itself in job descriptions, website and marketing materials?
- Google MapsGoogle Maps, Google Earth, and Google Images or other similar search engines may provide helpful information about location and size. Do they have a small office or large warehouse or plant?
- Guide to State Securities AdministratorsListing of the various state administrators, with links to their home pages, email address and to the text of the State's Blue Sky laws, where available.
- inc5000Fastest growing private companies in America. Offers the most comprehensive look at the entrepreneurial engine driving the U.S. economy.
- indeed.comUse the advances search on this site to see if your company has open job opportunities.
- IQS directoryA database of companies in industry and manufacturing. Gives basic contact information, and lists companies by industry. Includes some limited industry commentary.
- LinkedInA professional networking website where you can look up the authors of articles and books to see if they're credible.
- Manta.comFind company profiles with this online community for promoting and connecting small business. With more than one million registered users and 87 million company profiles, business owners and professionals use Manta to promote and differentiate their offerings and "be found" online by customers and prospects. (Requires a free account/login).
- Monster.comCheck to see if the company you are researching is hiring on this site. If they are opening positions, this can help paint a picture about company growth or turn-over.
- National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) Business ServicesAll 50 states make some level of corporate and business filings available online. In a few instances only limited information (such as name availability) is retrievable. The majority of the states, however, use their Web presence to disseminate a range of public business records -- and most of them offer access at no charge.
- NY State Corporation and Business FilingsHolds business documents including state and local laws, oaths of office, trademarks, certificates of incorporation, and Uniform Commercial Code Article 9 financing statements. The Division is also responsible for the authentication of public documents for use in other countries.
- Patents and trademarks officePatents and trademarks are often one of the few public records available for new private companies involved in science and technology fields. (Google Scholar also includes an easy to use patent search as well).
- PayscaleLook up any posted jobs for your company on this site to see what the salary range would be.
- Thomas RegisterA large index of manufacturers. In some cases, links to on-line product catalogs. Good site to visit if you want to know what a company does, or if you want to know which companies make a certain type of product.
- Zip RecruiterCheck to see if the company you are researching is hiring on this site. If they are opening positions, this can help paint a picture about company growth or turn-over. You can also find average salaries for positions.
