Company Profiles

[Note: These databases work best for larger, public companies. For articles on smaller, private, or local businesses, try ABI/Inform Dateline, Regional Business News, or Westlaw.]

The library has several databases that provide company profiles. As you can see from the chart below, some information is available from multiple sources, but each database also has a unique feature or two.

Hoover's is the best first stop because of its compact, hyperlinked summaries. It also covers private as well as public companies.

You'll need to establish a PIN to access these databases from off-campus.

Database	Business & Company Resource Center	Business Source Premier*	Hoover's Company Records	Mergent Online	ReferenceUSA	Thomson Financial Research
Address & phone	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Annual Report	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
Articles	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
Competitors	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes**	No
EDGAR/SEC	SEC	No	No	EDGAR	EDGAR	SEC
Employees	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
Executives	Yes	Yes ***	Yes	Yes ***	Yes	Sometimes
Financial data ****	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
History	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Industry overviews	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Products & services	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
Public or private companies	Public	Public	Public & private	Public	Public & private	Public
Searchable by kind of business & location	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
Searchable by SIC and/or NAICS	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
SIC/NAICS	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Strengths & weaknesses	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Subsidiaries/parent	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

* Use Advanced Search and select Company Reports in the Document Type menu.
** Shows local competitors and nearby businesses.
*** BSP has brief biographies in Company Reports. Mergent has selected biographies from many sources.
**** Financial data covers a lot of material, including revenue, operating income, gross profit, assets and liabilities.

Susan Clerc
Reference Librarian

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