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Privately-Owned & Non-Profit Companies
Finding information about privately-owned companies is not as easy as finding information on publicly-owned companies. Privately owned and operated companies are not required by SEC to publicly disclose information about themselves or their market position (except by local & state regulations).
The size of privately-owned companies ranges from an individual working out of a home to multi-billion dollar enterprises. The best approach to research sources for these enterprises include business directories (limited information), trade associations, business news sources to locate articles in newspapers, journals, and the World-wide-web for information.
Private companies just as public companies, must file paperwork at the state level in order to do business. BRB Publications offers a useful page of links to state Web sites that can be used as a starting point.
Databases to aid in locating articles in journals and newspapers on private companies include:
Some other useful Internet links for information on private and regional companies include:
- American City Business Journals http://www.bizjournals.com/--Publishes articles from thirty-five different business magazines published by American City Business Journals. The articles are full-text and focus on issues that are relevant to local businessmen in the region in which the magazine is published in print.
- Forbes: America's Largest Private Companies--May be sorted by: Rank | Name | State | Industry | Revenues | Employees. Also available in printed copies and on line: Forbes (Online : EBSCO) and via Factiva (formerly Dow Jones Interactive) [No proxy service for remote access; user must be on campus network proper] R , select the "News Pages."
- Hoovers http://www.hoovers.com/free/-- Provides certain company information, including links to Web sites and recent articles for free.
- Inc , The Inc. 500, is a list of the 500 fastest growing private companies, (current issues on Current Periodicals shelves, older issues on microfilm; see also Sterling for online source.
- IPL Internet Public Library http://www.ipl.org/div/subject/browse/bus45.00.00/--The IPL began in a graduate seminar in the School of Information and Library Studies at the University of Michigan in the Winter 1995 semester. It is organized by broad subjects—select “business” and click on “ Commerce & Trade” to access “Resources related to international trade issues, including organizations that promote business opportunities in the United States and abroad.”
- Small Business Administration http://www.sbaonline.sba.gov/ -- Offers information for starting, managing, financing, and business opportunities.
- The Better Business Bureau’s Philanthropic Advisory Service (BBB) http://www.bbb.org/-- BBB reports provide information on over 2 million organizations. Online reports on national charities are available from the BBB Wise Giving Alliance's web site, www.give.org
Some sites for local or regional business include:
Registered Agents may be good sources for information on small and other hard to find companies.
All 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.
Secretaries of States
- Company Registers Official company registers by country.
- National Association of Secretaries of State www.nass.org/ -- Each state files a variety of documents including corporate filings, UCC financing statements, trademarks, professional licensing applications and other legally required special filings. All of the states, plus Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, currently register domestic and/or foreign corporations (profit and non-profit). Transactions include, but are not limited to: filings of incorporation, partnerships, and limited partnerships , articles of mergers/ consolidations, and articles of dissolution. Fees are required, but they vary from state to state.
Growing company "going public" soon?
Growing companies with plans to "go public" must issue an Initial Public Offering (IPO). The process for "going public" includes filing statements with the SEC before actually being listed. Private companies deciding to go public file a Form S-1 with the SEC.The company is then referred to as an IPO company. It is sometimes difficult to trace the happening of these companies. The following sources are helpful.
- EDGAR-Online offers IPO Summary .Includes over 4,000 IPO filings and information on over 1,500 underwriters.
- Hoover's IPO Central Choose the IPO calendar to see all companies that have filed, but have not yet started trading, visit IPO Filings. For companies that have started trading, see IPO Performance.
- IPOfn Online
- Lexis-Nexis Universe R -- Select Business...SEC Filings on and choose SEC Filings & Reports; from the pull down menus select Prospectuses or - Registration Statements. Records go back to April 1993.
Non-profit Organizations
- BBB Wise Giving Alliance-- http://www.give.org/ -- Formed by the merger of the National Charities Information Bureau and the Council of Better Business Bureaus' Foundation and its Philanthropic Advisory Service.
- Guide Star http://www.guidestar.org/ -- The national database for non-profit organizations--Guide Star is the leader in providing comprehensive data on more than 1.5 million nonprofit organizations, connecting them with donors, foundations, businesses, and governing agencies in a nationwide community of giving.
- idealist.org - Welcome to Idealist.org - Imagine. Connect. Act.
| A "global clearinghouse of nonprofit and volunteering resources", |
- Nonprofits: USA.gov --Get government information and services for owners of nonprofit and charitable organizations.
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