Using Directories to Get Information
Numerous business directories provide much information about specific businesses, industries, organizations and governmental agencies. Good places to begin looking are Klein's Guide to American Directories, which tells you where you might locate information in different published directories; the Encyclopedia of Associations, which lists the major incorporated national-level (and some state-level) business, trade and nonprofit associations, along with the addresses and the names of officers; Marlow and Thomas's The Directory ofDirectories, which lists 9,600 plus business and industrial directories, business rosters, data bases, and other lists and guides under 16 broad subject categories; Constance Winchell's Guide to Reference Books, American Library Association, which lists every conceivable reference source and often provides leads to information in unlikely places; and The Encyclopedia ofBusiness Information Sources, which includes a wide variety of useful information, and divides information by industry and type of business.
Standard and Poof's Register of Corporations, Directors and Executives is a three-volume annual, kept up to date during the year with three supplements. Employers are listed alphabetically, numerically (by Standard Industrial Classification [SIC] code), and geographically. The listing for each includes brief information about the corporation, its chief business, telephone number, number of employees, names of board members and major executives. The listings in Standard and Poof's Register are very large incorporated businesses. For that reason, very large private businesses are not listed, nor are smaller corporations who don't meet the size requirements of the register. The headquarters address may be the only one given, and the locations of the individual executives are generally not noted. However, for major corporations, it's a fine source of relatively current information. Standard and Poor's also publishes other information (for example. Standard and Poof's Stock Reports), but these are less widely available.
Moody's Industrial Manual lists large industrial (manufacturing) companies whose securities are traded. Employers are listed alphabetically, along with a description of their location, line of business, size and officers. If you're interested in a position in the industrial sector, this book would be a better source for you than Standard and Poof s Register.
Standard Directory of Advertisers: Classified Edition. Describes companies that allocate at least $75,000 annually for national or regional advertising. Discusses media uses, names of key advertising, marketing and sales executives. Companies are arranged by broad industry categories. Includes "Trade name Index," a list of brand names and companies that own them.
Moody's Public Utility Manual, Moody s Transportation Manual, Moody s Bank and Finance Manual, and Moody s Municipal and Government Manual contain information for other sectors similar to that in Moody's Industrial Manual.
The Thomas Register of American Manufacturers provides about the same information that's in Moody's Industrial Manual, except that in its 12 volumes, it covers nearly every product and product line and nearly all U.S. companies engaged in manufacturing, not just those traded on the stock exchange. Either of the directories will be of value to you, and you might want to consult both.
Dun and Bradstreet's Million Dollar Directory and Middle Market Directory provide information on smaller companies. Companies are listed alphabetically, numerically (by SIC code), geographically and by product classification. Indicated are the company's location, telephone number, line of business, sales, total employment and the names of executives.
Dun also produces a number of other useful business information sources. Dun's Business Identification Services is a microfiche Q collection of the names and addresses of all the companies for which Dun and Bradstreet has credit reports, and lists names, addresses and officers for more than one third of all U.S. business enterprises. Dun s Business Rankings presents the top 7,500 public and private U.S. companies, ranked by number of employees and sales volume. The Career Guide, an annual, provides an overview of numerous major businesses, discusses employment opportunities, gives a list of disciplines hired, the address(s) and name or title of person to contact. Excellent resource.
Fortune's Plant and Product Directory will give you national information on who makes what and where if your experience and interest is with a specific product or product line. Fortune also publishes an annual Fortune Directory of U.S. Corporations, which contains the information from Fortune's annual Fortune 500, plus additional information.
A number of states publish directories on the businesses they've licensed for operation. For instance, the New Jersey Industrial Directory lists by county the businesses and industries doing more than a million dollars worth of business in the state. Information includes business location, name of the officer in charge, headquarters office address and top executive, number of employees at the site, preceding year's sales, and general type of service or products.
