How to look up local and/or private businesses:
1. Go to the Mergent database:
This link opens in a new window
This link opens in a new window
This link opens in a new window2. Once there, click on 'Advanced Search':
3. Select the 'D&B Private Company Database' to search private companies, in addition to public companies:
4. Click on the 'State' option, then choose your targeted state in the dropdown menu:
5. (Optional) Add a city, or any other criteria of your choosing:
6. Click on the 'Industry Codes' tab;
7. After entering all your desired search terms, click the 'Submit' button (any one will work):
8. After clicking submit, you will notice the list of results. You will probably see different numbers, usually decreasing, which is fine. In my example, there are 17,844 results for Virginia businesses, 1,297 results for Virginia AND Richmond business, and 2 results for Virginia AND Richmond AND business with a 713940 industry code.
Obviously, we can see that the more criteria you add to your search, the more focused your search will be on a specific set of businesses:
9. Click on the 'View' link to see your set of results for that particular search - each 'View' button will take you to a different set of results:
10. The results page will look like this - click on a company name to view more information - remember that private companies are not required to report the same level of information as public companies, which may limit the information you are able to find:
