Search Companies Screen
There are 15 search fields available on the Search Companies Screen. Eleven are tied to indexes that are accessible by clicking on the View Index links and one is tied to a hidden index; it functions much like other indexed search fields but lacks the accessibility of the index. The thirteenth and fourteenth search fields provide range searching capability. The last search field provides keyword searching capability.
See Searching — Basic for more information on conducting index, range, and keyword searches.
Open a Company Index by clicking on a View Index link located beneath a search field title on the Search Companies Screen. Clicking on the View Index link located beneath Company Name, for example, opens an index listing all company records contained in the database. For very large indexes, entries are grouped together alphabetically. The letters of the alphabet displayed at the top provide access to their corresponding groups of entries. For selected indexes, the number in parenthesis to the right of an entry indicates the number of company records available in the database for that entry. Clicking on an entry automatically inserts it into the corresponding search field. In addition to selecting entries from the indexes, you can also type them directly into any search field. The indexes available to you are listed below:
Used to search for companies by name. All company names are arranged in an alphabetical list by the first key word of the company name. Names that begin with numeric characters sort before the "A"s in the index.
Used to search for companies located in a particular state. In addition to selecting a state from the State Index, you can also type a state's postal code directly into the State search field.
It's important to make sure that you're not using the State search field in combination with other geographic search fields in illogical ways. For example, selecting Connecticut from the State Index and New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA from the Metro Area Index will return no results. This is because the Boolean operator and is automatically inserted "behind the scenes" between each search field.
Used to search for companies located in a particular county. Since some counties have identical names (Orange County, New York, and Orange County, California, for example), include a State in your search to ensure accurate results.
For the purposes of this search option, parishes in Louisiana are included in this index. Also note that the cities of St. Louis, Missouri; Baltimore, Maryland; and Carson City, Nevada, are independent of any county. Companies located in these cities are indexed under "St. Louis City," "Baltimore City," and "Carson City," respectively. This also applies to several cities in Virginia.
It's important to make sure that you're not using the County search field in combination with other geographic search fields in illogical ways. For example, selecting Fairfield (for the county in Connecticut) from the County Index and New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA from the Metro Area Index will return no results. This is because the Boolean operator and is automatically inserted "behind the scenes" between each search field.
Used to search for companies located in a particular city. Since some states have cities with identical names (Albany, New York, and Albany, Georgia, for example), include a State in your search to ensure accurate results.
Used to search for companies located in a particular metropolitan area. If you don't know the name of a particular metropolitan area, conduct a City search and locate the name of the metropolitan area in the Additional Location Information section of any company record retrieved. Note that not all cities are located within metropolitan areas.
It's important to make sure that you're not using the Metro Area search field in combination with other geographic search fields in illogical ways. For example, selecting New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA from the Metro Area Index and Connecticut from the State Index will return no results. This is because the Boolean operator and is automatically inserted "behind the scenes" between each search field.
Metro Area terms are based on current Metropolitan Statistical Areas as defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.
Used to search for companies located in a particular U.S. congressional district. If you don't know the number of a particular congressional district, conduct a City search and locate the number of the congressional district in the Additional Location Information section of any company record retrieved.
Note that the District of Columbia and the states of Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming have only one congressional district. Companies located in these states are indexed under "[State Name] District At-large."
It's important to make sure that you're not using the Congressional District search field in combination with other geographic search fields in illogical ways. For example, selecting Connecticut District 4 from the Congressional District Index and New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA from the Metro Area Index will return no results. This is because the Boolean operator and is automatically inserted "behind the scenes" between each search field.
Used to search for companies located in a particular ZIP code. Since this search field is tied to a hidden index, you have to type directly into the search field.
To search for companies located within a range of ZIP codes, modify a ZIP code to include a question mark wildcard character in your search. Modifying the end of a ZIP code to include a question mark representing any digit or a series of question marks representing any series of digits retrieves companies located within a range of ZIP codes based on the number of question marks replacing digits. For example, typing 1000? into the ZIP Code search field will retrieve companies located within a ZIP code range between 10000 and 10009 in New York. Typing 1???? will retrieve companies located within a ZIP code range between 10000 and 19999 in the Northeast. The asterisk wildcard character should not be used in the ZIP Code search field. See the Wildcard Searching section for more information on using wildcard characters.
Used to search for companies by the principle products and services manufactured and provided or the types of business conducted.
Business Type terms are based on the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system, originally developed by the U.S. government in the 1930s and updated on a periodic basis. The SIC system is a four-level hierarchical structure organized into 10 major industry divisions that are further divided by major group, industry group, and industry. For the purpose of classifying companies, the Foundation Center uses the terms associated with the first three levels of the SIC structure.
Used to search for companies associated with a specific person known to be an officer or director.
When typing a name directly into the search field, you'll need to know the exact way the name of the person you're trying to find appears in the index. For example, if a name is listed in the index as "Doe, John Q.," typing "John Doe" into the search field won't retrieve the company record you're looking for—the "Q." must be included.
Used to search for companies by the names of their subsidiaries, divisions, and joint ventures. All subsidiary names are arranged in an alphabetical list by the first key word of the subsidiary name. Names that begin with numeric characters sort before the "A"s in the index. Those companies that are also subsidiary companies are also listed here.
Used to search for companies with subsidiaries, divisions, joint ventures, plants, and offices located in a particular state or country. In addition to selecting a state from the Subsidiary State/Country Index, you can also type a state's postal code directly into the Subsidiary State/Country search field.
Used to search for companies with subsidiaries, divisions, joint ventures, plants, and offices located in a particular city.
Use the drop-down menu to select the type of range search you want to perform. Enter your low-end value in the "From:" field and your high-end value in the "To:" field. You can also conduct an open-ended search by entering a value in one field only. The range searches available to you are listed below:
I. Total Sales
Used to search for companies with a Total Sales amount within a particular dollar value range.
Note that Total Sales data isn't available for some companies, especially private companies. These particular company records won't be retrieved by a Total Sales range search, regardless of the company's actual total sales amount.
II. Establishment Year
Used to search for companies established within a particular range of years.
Note that Establishment Year data isn't available for some companies. These particular company records won't be retrieved by an Establishment Year range search, regardless of the company's actual establishment year.
A keyword (or text) search can be conducted either independently of or in conjunction with an index search or range search. Simply type a word or phrase into the Keyword Search field to search for companies with Foundation Directory Online company profiles containing that word or phrase.
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