Company Information
Company Type Matters
When researching a company, it is important to know whether it is public, private, or a subsidiary of a larger company.
Public companies sell shares of the company (stocks) to the general public and are required to submit financial information and annual reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Public companies are therefore easier to research as a general rule of thumb.
Private companies do not sell publicly traded stocks and as a result, are not required to release as much information to the government or the general public. They are therefore more challenging to research.
Subsidiaries of public companies can be difficult to research because the parent company is not required to report on each of them individually. Therefore, when researching a subsidiary, you often have to read carefully through reports about the parent and look for references to the subsidiary.
Company Directories
Company Profiles usually include address, phone number, type of business, industry and NCAIS code, key executives, and sales figures. Each tool below has different features for creating lists of companies by characteristics.
Business Source Ultimate (EBSCO)
Option to create a list of companies by major metropolitan area (Milwaukee)

Mergent Intellect
Filter companies by, new, women, and minority-owned in the advanced search.

Company Reports
These reports are created by independent research companies. Order search results by most recent date for the most updated information.
Business Source Ultimate (EBSCO)
- MarketLine Company Profiles (includes SWOT)


ABI/INFORM Collection (ProQuest)

Find Specific Reports
Business Databases Chart: See what types of company reports are available in all 6 business databases
LibraryAnswers: See a list of FAQs with instructions for finding specific company reports
Comprehensive Article Databases
These databases aggregate articles from press releases, trade publications, and scholarly journals. Search by the company name and a topic of interest for news and academic research.
Name | ProQuest Business Databases |
Tip | Use the Company and source type filters |
Name | Business Source Ultimate |
Tip | Use the company and publication type filters |