Business Research Clinic

Presented by Librarians from
Santa Cruz Public libraries and UC Santa Cruz libraries

Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce Presentation (Feb. 12, 2008)

Santa Cruz Public Library Resources (www.santacruzpl.org/) Connect from your desktop for free to Santa Cruz Public Libraries databases
• You will need a Public library card and PIN. Public library card applications are available at www.santacruzpl.org/service/libcards.shtml

UCSC McHenry Library Resources (library.ucsc.edu/research.html) Databases available to community members on-site only – no remote access.
• Electronic Government Depository resources available both off and on campus
• Books may be checked-out after joining the Friends of the Library at $50.00 per year
• Parking information available at www2.ucsc.edu/taps/pages/kiosk.html

Both library systems offer…
• Help and guidance from friendly, knowledgeable librarians
• Wireless access to resources in the library – bring your laptop!

Business and Company Resource Center - SCPL - Available from library and home computers using library card and PIN
Access detailed company information for U.S. and international companies, company profiles, industry news, product information, financial information, investment news and information and legal issues. Contains journal and newspaper articles, press releases. Search by company name or SIC (product) code. Includes brands and product information, Industry and company rankings; Market Share data; Industry Overviews; and HR Law Case Digests.

ReferenceUSA- SCPL - Available from library and home computers using library card and PIN. Directory information for more than 14 million U.S. businesses, 3 million international businesses, and 210 million U.S. residents. Businesses are searchable by name, zip code, SIC, and geographical location. U.S. residential database is searchable by name, address, and phone number.. Business information is verified and updated monthly. Business search criteria include: Business name, Geography, Executive title, Business type, Sales volume, Employee size, Year established. Information given includes address and phone numbers, type of company, executive directory, credit rating, business size, sales volume, number of employees and personal computers, square footage, picture of office building, company news and articles about it, competitors report, and UCC filings.

Business Source Elite (Ebscohost) – SCPL - Available from library and home computers using library card and PIN. RSS feed and email alert enabled. A useful resource for historical and current information in all areas of “…business, including marketing, management, MIS, POM, accounting, finance and economics.” Find Case Studies, Country Reports, Market Research Reports, SWOT Analyses, Working Papers, etc Provides full text for over 1,070 journals covering business, management, economics, finance, banking, Start searches here and move on to Business Source Premier if more information is needed

Regional Business News (Ebscohost) –SCPL - Available from library and home computers using library card and PIN, and at UCSC on-site only. RSS feed and email alert enabled. Comprehensive full text coverage for 75 regional business journals, newspapers, blogs, and newswires from all metropolitan and rural areas within the United States. Updated daily. Full text coverage extends to letters to the editor, editorials, and columns.

Business Source Premier - UCSC on-site only - RSS feed and email alert enabled. Contains identical sources as Business Source Elite (SCPL) but has more general resources coverage in magazines and news sources, and has more specific industry information. Start searches in Business Source Elite and move on to Business Source Premier if more information is needed

Foundation Directory Online- Available at the Central and Aptos branch libraries only.
Premier grantseeking database on the web, developed by the Foundation Center, a national nonprofit service organization. Comprehensive database of over 92,000 grantmakers and 1.3 million grants. The database also includes over 441,000 IRS 990s for private foundations, community foundations, and grantmaking public charities. Includes a tool to organize a grantmaker's current and archived news, requests for proposals, job postings, key staff affiliations, publications, printable color charts illustrating grant distributions, and customized searching within a funder's grants list.

RAND California – SCPL - Available from library and home computers using library card and PIN, and at UCSC on-site only. Provides statistics and reports. .Business and Economics section includes employment, unemployment, industry and occupational wages, occupational projections, construction and real estate (including housing prices and foreclosures, and non-residential vacancy rates), inflation, foreign trade, retail and taxable sales, sales tax rates, gross state product, personal and per capita income, farm income, and airport operating statistics.

Rich's Northern California Companies (NorCalCompanies) - SCPL - Available from library and home computers using library card and PIN. Downloading of data requires a current valid credit card. Maintains a database of over 30,000 firms in Northern California and provides access to over 75,000 contact names, 16,000 websites, and 12,000 email addresses. The database includes high technology, financial services, manufacturing, distributors, transportation, wholesalers, and business to business services. Users are limited to viewing 100 Premium Profiles per day.

Lexis Nexis – Business Tab - UCSC on-site only - Very useful resource for company profiles, industry news sources, company financial data (mergers and acquisitions, annual reports, SEC filings) and legal and patent/trademark information about specific companies. Includes Hoover’s Industry and company reports, company records, and profile database in its source list. Covers both public and private companies, U.S. and international companies.

ProQuest Research Library - library.ucsc.edu/friends/proquest/index.html Collection of more than 3700 journals and magazines, plus several newspapers. Most provide indexing beginning in 1992 (many begin earlier) and more than 2,500 titles provide access to the full text of covered articles.

Stat-USA – UCSC on-site only, must be logged onto computer by librarian.
Use to gauge the direction of the U.S. economy and access a repository of economic indicators such as employment, wholesale and retail prices, monetary and housing trends, gross domestic product, etc. Includes Global Business Opportunities (GLOBUS) & the National Trade Data Bank (NTDB®) which provides access to over 200,000 current and historical documents on export opportunities by industry, country, and product; political and socio-economic conditions in hundreds of countries. Also includes information from non-federal sources such as the Institute for Supply Management and Cantor/Fitzgerald.

Business.gov – Official business link to Federal government. Includes business forms, contacts and help, some state and local information. Provides links to business law, online training, contracts and grant information and small business help. Site managed by the Small Business Administration.

SBA.gov sba.gov/services - Small Business Administration. Provides information about starting and growing a business. Financial plans, contracting with the government, disaster assistance, marketing and outreach, laws and regulations, etc.

USA.gov Business Gateway www.usa.gov/Business/Business_Gateway.shtmlwww.usa.gov/Business/Business_Gateway.shtml
Buying and selling to the government, contracts, business law, statistics, exporting, taxes. Note many sources link to Business.gov or SBA.gov sites.

California Business Portal - www.calbusiness.ca.gov/
Provides a portal to resources for starting, growing, financing, expanding or relocating a business in California. Includes resources provided by public and private sources, including State and Federal agencies and local private non-profit organizations.

SCORE www.score.org
Offers assistance to small businesses; affliliated with the SBA. The toolkit page provides business templates and online business skills workshops.

U.S. Census Bureau www.census.gov - Find data and reports on foreign trade, economic census data (employers, wages, industry comparisons), economic indicators, labor market data., demographic information by zipcode or census tract.

American Factfinder, U.S. Census Bureau factfinder.census.gov - demographic and economic census data by zipcode, census tract, city, etc.

City of Santa Cruz Redevelopment Agency www.ci.santa-cruz.ca.us/ra Includes link to new business gateway, economic studies, real property, retail and office space locator. Updates on redevelopment projects. Includes New business Gateway - www.ci.santa-cruz.ca.us/ra/BusGateway/index.html - provides comprehensive information about relocating or starting a business in Santa Cruz

Small Business Development Center at Cabrillo College www.cabrillo.edu/services/sbdc/resources.html - Free business counseling and guidance for establishing, managing, and expanding a business. Classes and seminars available.

Government Websites:
• Business.gov– detailed source of business tax information, laws and regulations
• Irs.gov - www.irs.gov/businesses - Business tax information

American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (www.aicpa.org/Consumer+Information/)
Consumer help page. Includes help in finding a CPA, a financial literacy help site, and an anti-fraud resource center.

Library Databases:
• Reference USA (SCPL)
• Hoovers – Lexis Nexis Business Sources (UCSC on-site only)
• Datamonitor reports – Lexis Nexis Business sources (UCSC on-site only)

EDGAR / SEC Filings - Find SEC filings, including 10-K reports, annual reports, fund reports, etc.

Yahoo! Finance finance.yahoo.com/
Free, accessible anywhere with internet connection.
Public companies only. Enter company ticker symbol (or use look-up feature to find symbol) and navigate through the list of company information options on the screen (stock information, company information including SEC filings, financials, statistics, and news about the company.

Dun and Bradstreet (charge applies) www.dnb.com/us. Business background reports, competitive analysis, industry profiles, company reports.

Government Websites:
• American Factfinder factfinder.census.gov/ - updated by American Community Survey which presently contains only county level data for Santa Cruz
• California Labor Market Profiles - www.calbusiness.ca.gov Select “Regions” from menubar, then “Local Area Profile” Find wage, demographics, occupations (low and high-wage), consumer price index, commute statistics, regional comparisons

Community Assessment Project (Santa Cruz County only) http://www.appliedsurveyresearch.org/www/mainmenu.shtml

Nonprofits: Identify nonprofits in SC County - GuideStar (www.guidestar.org). The site requires registration, but on the free "basic" level offers fairly comprehensive profiles of nonprofit organizations

Local Associations/Membership Associations - Use Associations Unlimited (SCPL, or UCSC on-site only)

Job Descriptions – www.job-descriptions.org/ - Provides job descriptions and job details. View jobs by title or industry.

O*NET OnLine – online.onetcenter.org– 780 comprehensively updated occupations. The "database includes information on skills, abilities, knowledge, work activities, training, work experience, education, work styles and interests associated with specific occupations". While designed for job searches, can help employers fit the right person to the right job in their organization.

CalJOBS – www.caljobs.ca.gov - California's Employment Development Department's (EDD) Job Service. Free, registration required. Use the employer section of this website to find skilled workers, research ideas to stay competitive and help make informed decisions. Website offers a full array of job placement services, up-to-date information on the labor market and emerging occupations, tax and hiring incentives, and other information.

CareerOneStop – www.careeronestop.org/ - Operating as a federal-state partnership, this site provides nationwide information on job listings, wage and employment trends, licensing requirements by state and by profession, and much more.

Hoover’s www.hoovers.com/free
Some for fee, some free. Can locate a fair amount of basic information about a company (both public and private). Proprietary information may be accessed through UCSC library database Lexis-Nexis (see above).

Marketresearch.com www.marketresearch.com
For-Fee Market Research Group. You may sign up for free email alerts about new research reports in your area of business. The alerts are free, the reports are not. You may elect to purchase or not purchase the reports. Sign up here www.marketresearch.com/alertme/addeditalert.asp.

•County Business Patterns - Find trend information, ex: Leisure Expenditures by people shopping locally. Select CBP from list,. Data available by zipcode, metro area, state, U.S. You should search for your type of expenditure by NAICS code – codes can be found here: http://www.naics.com/search.htm

Santa Cruz County Superior court records www.santacruzcourt.org/Case_Info/index.htm
Searches civil court docket and supplies summary info, ex: small claims court, breach of contract, etc.

Santa Cruz City Business License Database - www.ci.santa-cruz.ca.us/fn/index.html. The City of Santa Cruz's Business License database is updated monthly. Listings, shown after you enter a search, show the business name, street address, mailing address, telephone number, owner's name, business start date, number of employees and type of business.

Dunn & Bradstreet www.dnb.com/us
Not free, best way to determine risk of lending is to get a credit report from D&B.

Library Databases:
• Business and Company Resource Center - SCPL
• Ebsco Business Source Elite (SCPL)
• Ebsco Business Source Premier (UCSC on-site only)

STAT-USA available on-site at UCSC only. Brief information available at www.stat-usa.gov

Santa Cruz Public Library
Starting a Business in Santa Cruz County - www.santacruzpl.org/ref/scbus.shtml Accessible from the Santa Cruz Public Libraries home page, under “Local Information” subheading. A list of local resources and guidelines for the small businessperson. Compiled and revised annually by the Reference Staff, Last revision: January 2008.