Library: Recruiting Students Using Library Resources: Business Directories

Reference Solutions - U.S. Businesses

Reference Solutions (Data Axle)
Search more than 50 million businesses in the U.S. Businesses module or 250 million individual consumers in the U.S. Consumers / Lifestyle. This resource helps users create small business and marketing plans, conduct competitive analysis and locate people and business competitors and partners.

Reference Solutions provides access to two databases: US Businesses covers more than 14 million companies and the US Consumers / Lifestyles covers over 200 million consumers.

The US Businesses Advanced Search filters by:

Record Type -- verified

Business Type - SIC or NAICS industry codes or keywords

Geography - areas from state to zip code

Business Size - employee count or location sales volume

Ownership - large public to small single location or home based

A video on Different ways to find a business and industry in Reference Solutions is available on Reference Solutions' YouTube channel.

(image from ReferenceUSA database)

Company information & directories

Information on large- to mid-sized companies

Gale Business: Insights
Search by company name to link to company histories, investment reports, market share and rankings, and SWOT reports. Or, select a "Search Option" to search a specific collection.
Hoover's Company Records (ProQuest)
Search by Company/organization name to link to company factsheet, overview, history, people (officers and employees), products & operations, subsidiaries, competitors, and financials.

Directories to find small-, mid- and large companies

Use these databases if you want to find companies in a specific geographic location in the United States.

Reference Solutions (Data Axle)
Search more than 50 million businesses in the U.S. Businesses module or 250 million individual consumers in the U.S. Consumers / Lifestyle. This resource helps users create small business and marketing plans, conduct competitive analysis and locate people and business competitors and partners.
Sorkins Online
This business, government, and non-profit directory covers Chicago, St. Louis, and Kansas City.