local business information

January 16, 2007 11:31 AM

Hi All, Does anyone know where can someone get local business information such as name, address, zip code, type of business, etc?
posted by cmkjani to technology (10 comments total)

I've heard good things about the Yellow Pages.
posted by veggieboy at 11:33 AM on January 16, 2007

Perhaps you ought to clarify your question.
posted by odinsdream at 11:36 AM on January 16, 2007

You might try looking up the local Chamber of Commerce.
posted by vignettist at 11:44 AM on January 16, 2007

cmkjani, neither your profile nor your question state your locale, so it will be difficult to answer your question, such as it is. Assuming you are in the US, most businesses are registered on a state level.

In Minnesota, you can find out official ownership and address information for a given business from the Secretary of State's office.

If you want more complete information than that, you will have to let us know your jurisdiction, or just check with your state or district government offices.
posted by BigLankyBastard at 11:49 AM on January 16, 2007

Um...the Google snark disappeared, but you could basically type your question into Google and get about a 114,000,000 results in less time it took you to ask us.
posted by allkindsoftime at 12:41 PM on January 16, 2007

Go to the library and get the Polk Business Directory AKA The Blue Pages. It is awesome. It even tells you what business was at an address before the current business (ie: BeDazzled > Original Coffee > Dale's Salon > Farmland)
posted by parmanparman at 3:20 PM on January 16, 2007

As a wild guess, maybe what you want is a mailing list vendor?

I feel like I'm playing some new MeFi game... "Cmon everyone, lets all play Guess the Question!"
posted by yohko at 4:10 PM on January 16, 2007 [1 favorite]

ReferenceUSA is a subscription-only database that a lot of public libraries purchase subscriptions to. Search by size of business, zip code, SIC code, etc. For library subscriptions, there are typically limits in place to keep you from downloading big chunks of the database at once, of course.
posted by gimonca at 7:33 PM on January 16, 2007

The other fun directory at your local public library is the Thomas Register. It can be a bit of a chore to use on paper, so say "please" to the reference librarian.

When I worked at the reference desk, I was amazed by how many questions could be answered by the Yellow Pages...
posted by QIbHom at 7:56 PM on January 17, 2007

hi,

when I mean local i mean US. I basically information regarding local business and related information that I can extract into my database. I heard people give suggestion as yellow pages, but does it give you business discription, name, etc.... Something we can pay for to get or subscribe to.

I would appreciate an answer.

regards.
Chaitanya
posted by cmkjani at 3:07 PM on January 25, 2007