Kresge Research Guides: Kresge Library Resources for Entrepreneurial Action-Based Learning Projects: Company Databases

Company Information and Company Lists

Mergent Online
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Current and historical (past 15 years) firm descriptions, statistics, financial information and ratios, annual reports, mergers, acquisitions, disposals, joint ventures, long-term debt, bond ratings, capital stock, insider trading and supply chain for US and foreign companies. Mergent Online also provides access to Investext analyst reports.
Help guide

Technical notes: Company reports and financials can be exported to Excel.
Help guide
Mergent Intellect
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Private and public U.S and international company data, industry news, facts and figures, hierarchy/corporate family tree data, executive contact information, and industry profiles. Additionally, Mergent Intellect allows users to build lists of companies based on location, industry, size, etc.
PrivCo
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PrivCo contains business and financial research for over 600,000 non-publicly traded corporations, including family-owned, private equity-owned, venture-backed and international unlisted companies. Search for Venture Capital (VC) fundings, private Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) deals, Private Equity (PE) deals, and general company information. Private company profiles contain financials, corporate structure, key contacts, investors and industry information.
Technical notes: Personal account using @umich.edu email required.
PrivCo Video Tutorials
D&B Hoovers
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D&B Hoovers has public and private company profiles for US and global companies. Profiles include company descriptions and history, financials and ratios, hierarchy/corporate family tree data, SWOT analysis, news, competitors, SIC industry codes, NAICS industry codes, SEC filings, and annual reports. The “Build a List” function allows users to create a company list based on numerous parameters
and filters. Industry content includes constituents and analysis that include RMA Industry Norms, MarketLine Industry Profiles, and Fredonia Focus reports.
Technical notes: Company lists downloads are limited to 100 records. If you encounter a login screen, all seats are in use. Try connecting using the “UM users” link or at a later time.

Technical note:If you encounter a login screen, all seats are in use. Try connecting at a later time. Subscription includes 25 seats which are shared across all 3 UM campuses.
Data Axle
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White- and yellow-pages directory listings for all US residences and businesses, supplemented with government information from the Bureau of the Census and other agencies. Additionally, Data Axle offers consumer lifestyle information that can be refined by zip code as well as information about the number of people moving into a particular neighborhood, city or state.

Historical data from 1997-2011 is available for download through University Library.

Use policy: When using material from this database in reports and presentations, vendor contract requirements dictate that you must include the phrase, "Used with permission of ReferenceUSA."
Historic company records were created annually from Infogroup's U.S. Business Database; a snapshot of the data is saved each December. Contains company name, mailing address, SIC and NAICS codes, employee size, sales volume, latitude/longitude, and many more variables about each company. Data is available from 1997-2017 in downloadable flat files. Access requires UM login.
Access the Historical Datafiles via University Library
Orbis
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Orbis contains information about European, US, Canadian, South and Central American, Japanese, Chinese, and African companies, as well as banks and insurance companies. Financials, peer comparison, corporate ownership and deals are included.

Users are required to enter 'University of Michigan' in the 'Enter your organization's name' box to authenticate and use the database.
Technical Notes: Use of scripts or automated methods to download data from Orbis is strictly prohibited. If you require access to a larger dataset, please contact us at kresge_library@umich.edu.

For more information and resources related to this topic, please visit Kresge's Company Research guide.

NAICS and SIC Codes for searching databases

Business Classification Resources

North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)

From the United States Census Bureau, this is one of the two standard industry classifications systems used world-wide
The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is the standard used by Federal statistical agencies in classifying business establishments for the purpose of collecting, analyzing, and publishing statistical data related to the U.S. business economy (from the Census Website)
This was last updated in 2007, so it may have better coverage of recent developed industries

Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) – OSHA

From Occupational Safety and Health Administration, this is one of the two standard industry classifications systems used world-wide
This was last updated in 1987, so it may not have very recent industries
Use the SIC Manual to help understand the classification system