When researching a company, one should consider: 1) whether it is public or private, and 2) whether it is U.S. or foreign owned. A public company sells stock to the general public and is traded on a stock exchange; a private company does not sell stock and is not listed on any exchange. Generally, it is easier to find information on public companies, particularly those in the U.S., than private companies, or foreign companies. Another important factor to consider is where the company is located. Smaller companies are sometimes more likely to be listed in local directories. Click on a link below to jump to a particular section.

California & Southern California Companies on the Web:

Better Business Bureau of the Southland  Serves L.A., Orange, Riverside, & San Bernardino Counties, providing business reliability reports that report on a company's business record, and charity reports. Free.

California Business Search  This site from the California Secretary of State allows the user to search corporation records and limited partnership/limited liability records.  Information includes date of filing, status, jurisdiction, mailing address, and agent. 

California Department of Financial Institutions  Look up California banks and other financial institutions in California. At the main page, click on "Search for State Financial Institutions" on the right under "Online Resources."

City of Santa Monica Business Center  Search for Santa Monica businesses alphabetically or by local district, or find information about doing business in Santa Monica.

Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce  Provides name of business plus basic contact information for Chamber member businesses. Free; request info. by telephone or in person.

Los Angeles County Business License Division  Provides basic business information on licensed businesses in Los Angeles County; also lists businesses requiring a license.

Los Angeles County Fictitious Business Name Search  Get information on naming your business in Los Angeles County or do a search on fictitious names already in use in the Los Angeles County area.

SoCalTech.com  Directory of high tech companies in Southern California. Subscription is required but basic contact information (i.e. phone) and a brief description of the company is provided.

In the Library:

• California Manufacturers Register
  California manufacturing companies listed alphabetically, by SIC, by their products and services, and geographically. Includes contact information, key personnel, sales, public or private status, business description, and more.
   
• Directory of California Wholesalers and Service Companies
  California wholesale and service companies listed alphabetically, by SIC, by their products and services, and geographically. Includes contact information, key personnel, sales, public or private status, business description, and more.
   
• Dun & Bradstreet Regional Business Directory
  Provides basic company information (contact information; type of business) subdivided geographically, alphabetically, and by SIC within the Los Angeles metro and suburban areas.
   
• Los Angeles Business Journal Lists
  Lists the leading companies in Los Angeles by type of business. Useful for finding out the major companies in an industry in Los Angeles.
   
• Southern California Business Directory & Buyer's Guide
  Business directory for Southern California which provides information on many types of companies indexed alphabetically, by products & services, by SIC, and geographically. Includes contact information, key personnel, sales, public or private status, business description, and more.

• Reference USA
  (See the description of this Library online database below.)  The Custom Search feature of this database allows the user to specify cities, countys, zip codes, or area codes as well as the type, retail sales, number of employees so it is very useful in creating lists of state and local companies.  Use your library card to search this database or use the handy Instant Access feature provided by the Library for a temporary card number.

Public Companies on the Web:

Dow Jones Averages  Provides current and historical data for the Dow Jones Averages. If you need statistical info. about any of the major Dow Jones Averages, including the Dow Jones Industrial Average, you may find it here. Access is free.

Dow Jones Indexes  Dow Jones Averages provide a convenient benchmark for comparing individual stocks to the course of the market, for comparing the market with other indicators of economic conditions, and/or for gauging the market's direction. Basically the indexes may be used to differentiate the stock market's long-term trends from short-term fluctuations. 

Hoover's Online  Company profiles; search by company name, ticker symbol, keyword.

Standard & Poor's Indexes  Consists of the S&P 100 (100 stocks; each component in the index is weighted according to its market capitalization, i.e. the share price multiplied by the number of outstanding shares); S&P 500 Index (500 stocks chosen for market size, liquidity, and industry group representation; a market-value weighted index (stock price times number of shares outstanding), with each stock's weight in the Index proportionate to its market value (the "500" is one of the most widely used benchmarks of U.S. equity performance); the S&P MidCap 400 Index (consists of 400 domestic stocks chosen for market size, liquidity, and industry group representation. It is also a market-value weighted index and was the first benchmark of midcap stock price movement); and the S&P SmallCap 600, which consists of 600 domestic stocks chosen for market size, liquidity (bid-asked spread, ownership, share turnover and number of no trade days) and industry group representation. It is a market-value weighted index like the S&P 500.

Yahoo! Finance  Search by ticker symbol for a company.

• Dun & Bradstreet Million Dollar Directory
  Lists U.S. public and private companies with sales of $1,000,000 or more; information includes contacts, public/private status, headquarters & single locations, sales, etc.
   
• America's Corporate Families
  Lists U.S. public companies and their subsidiaries and affiliates.
   
• Headquarters USA
  Contact information for headquarters and other central offices of major businesses & organizations in the U.S. & Canada.
   
• Hoover's Handbooks
  Directories for American Business, Emerging Companies, Private Companies, & World Business.
   
• Ward's Business Directory
  Especially good for finding information on U.S. private companies as well as public companies.
   
• Standard & Poor's Register of Corporations, Directors & Executives
  U.S. company directory containing profiles of over 75,000 corporations, the names and titles of 290,000 executives and over 70,000 biographical sketches of top level managers.

Specialized Companies on the Web:

Chemical Week  The Buyer's Guide is located under "Online Resources" in the sidebar menu.  Search by chemical name to locate its company. Industry magazines are often good sources of company directories.

CorpTech High-Tech Companies  Directory of technology manufacturers and developers in the United States.

First Source  Directory of U.S. architecture firms.

NCUA Credit Union Directory  The National Credit Union Administration's directory of member credit unions.

Thomas Regional Directory  More than 480,000 manufacturers, distributors and service companies organized under 4,500 product/service categories in 19 key U.S. industrial markets. Includes trade shows, associations, and government and business resources.

Thomas Register of American Manufacturers  Electronic version of standard print directory. Search by product or service.

Web100–Big Business on the Web  Company directory and business news.

In the Library:

The following represent a sampling of the different types of company directories available in the Library:

• Directory of United States Exporters
  Lists U.S. exporting companies by state, alphabetically, alphabetically by product, and alphabetically by SIC.
   
• Directory of United States Importers
  Lists U.S. importing companies by state, product (numerical product index), and alphabetically.
   
• Hollywood Creative Directory
  Find company contact information for studios and networks, film & TV executives, production companies, independent producers, and more.
   
• Standard Directory of Advertisers & Advertising Agencies
  Look up U.S. advertisers and the agencies that provide advertising; information for advertisers includes company name and address, phone, email, website, business description, sales, advertising expenditures, and media types; agency listings include areas of specialty, key personnel, and contact information.
   
• Thomson Bank Directory
  Worldwide bank directory; data includes national bank codes, industry statistics and rankings, standard settlement instructions (SSI) and credit ratings.
   
• World Aviation Directory & Aerospace Database
  This directory lists companies pertaining to the aerospace and aviation industry internationally; arranged by type of company; includes an alphabetical company index in the front section.

International Companies on the Web:

Europages  The European Business Directory with approximately 150,000 companies listed.

Hoover's UK  Hoover's capsule, financial data and news on major British and European companies are available free of charge from this otherwise fee-based site.

Kompass  International; includes companies in 61 countries. Basic listings are free but you must subscribe to view an extended company listing. 

In the Library:

• Doing Business in 2004: Understanding Regulation
  This is the first in a new series of publications from the World Bank covering business regulations around the world. This volume follows the corporate life cycle, from starting a business, hiring and firing, getting credit, and enforcing contracts to closing a business. The 2004 volume focuses on registering property, government licensing and inspection requirements, and investing. All of the volumes will include a substantial chapter of comparative data across over 130 countries, from Albania to Zimbabwe (also available online at rru.worldbank.org/DoingBusiness).

One very useful source for locating international company information in the Library is the Business & Company Resource Center, an extensive business database which provides information and news on major international companies. This is a subscription database which you can access remotely through the Library's webpage. See On the Library Network below for details.

Company Rankings on the Web:

Forbes 200 Best Small Companies in America  Lists the top small companies in the U.S. from 1996-2004.  (You can choose to skip the ads that are sometimes the opening page of the site.)

Forbes 500 Largest Private Companies in America  America's largest private companies, from 1996-2003.

Fortune 500  Look at the side bar menu under "Browse by Fortune Lists" then select your list from the pull down menu.

Fortune Global 500  Look at the side bar menu under "Browse by Fortune Lists" then select your list from the pull down menu.

Fortune Most Admired Corporations  Look at the side bar menu under "Browse by Fortune Lists" then select your list from the pull down menu.

Gary Price's List of Lists  Lists special issues of magazines pertaining to numerous business related topics; organized by subject.  (This site is an excellent resource.)

Hoover's  Hoover's maintains the "List of Lists" that is regularly updated.  From the main page, click on the link to "Companies & Industries" at the top of the page and then select "Companies" from the side bar menu. "The List of Lists" will appear on the side bar under "Companies."

Inc. 500  A list of the fastest growing private companies in the U.S. according to Inc. magazine.

In the Library:

Many magazines devote special issues to company rankings, such as:

• Fortune 500 (largest U.S. industrial & service companies)
• Forbes (best small companies)
• Black Enterprise (black owned companies)
• Inc. (Inc. 500)
• Entrepreneur (Franchise 500)
• Industry Week (100 best managed companies)
• Los Angeles Times (best California companies)

These can be found in Infotrac OneFile or the Business & Company Resource Center - just do a search on the magazine title and the list name keywords. They can also be found in the print issue in the Library in the month in which it is put out. You can use the above databases to determine the date of the issue.

Researching Companies on the Web:

Annual Reports Online  Tips on how to locate companies' annual reports plus a list of useful links and "The Annual Report Library." The Library categorizes annual report sources by type (e.g. educational, non-profit, etc.) and provides links to the reports.

On the Library network:

Electronic general business directories provide information similar to that available in the print directories. However, the electronic versions allow the user to set criteria and develop a list of companies that meet them. The electronic versions also offer the user the option to download the information so that it may be used in a spread sheet or as the basis for a mailing list. For example, a user might develop a list of Los Angeles County pottery companies and either print the list or download it.

Two popular electronic programs offered by the Library are Reference USA and Business & Company Resource Center. Both of these subscription resources are available to home users as well as in all Library branches. There is no cost to the user. To use the resources from home it is necessary to have a Santa Monica library card. The link to the databases is below.

• Reference USA
  Provides brief information on over ten million companies. In addition to company name, address, phone, and fax number, each record includes SIC codes linked to Yellow Page headings, the number of employees on site, estimated sales volume, Reference USA's own credit rating code, a contact name, and more. A "link" feature guides users from subsidiaries to parent companies or locates subsidiaries from the parent company listing.  Parent company listings provide all the company information above plus the major executives and stock exchange & ticker symbol (if any) and SEC filings (available by clicking on the company's ticker symbol).
   
• Business & Company Resource Center
  Contains listings for major U.S. and international companies, extensive essays for over 1,100 industrial categories, industry statistics, market share reports, and company rankings. In addition, company histories and chronologies are available for the most prominent businesses in the world. Business & Company Resource Center also provides articles from a variety of general and specialized business journals. Search by topic over a variety of journals or search for articles in a specific journal.

Go to the Library's databases