How do I obtain a database of Michigan businesses?

[Detwa]

Does anyone know how I can get a database or spreadsheet of information about all businesses in Michigan? Info such as name, address, phone, and any other available data?

I've found a few US databases for sale, but I really want something more specific to Michigan, because those contain data I don't need and as such, are overpriced for my needs. I found a few that were really cheap but I tried to contact them for more info and got no response, so that doesn't make me feel secure in sending them money.

I tried the Michigan.gov website in the business licensing section, but there's no way to get this information in a downloadable file. From what I can see, I'd have to sit and copy and paste each one myself.

Thanks in advance!

[gazhekwe]

Michigan.gov may be able to provide a downloadable file, try making a FOIA request specifying that you will accept an electronic version. There are a ton of names in there. On the other hand, the database is already on line, so there may be a way for you to use it to obtain the info you need.

See this info re: their searchable electronic datbase:

http://www.dleg.state.mi.us/bcs_corp/sr_corp.asp

You can call the number that is listed on that page to find out how to print out or save your searches. We used to dump ours into an ASCII comma or tab delimited file, that was sortable by name, address, business type or whichever field you choose to sort by. There is probably a fairly accessible way to save the search into Excel,

[Detwa]

Thanks, gazhekwe. Dumb question - but are all businesses corporations? That says its a listing of corporations and LLCs, so would that include every licensed business? I was under the impression that not all businesses needed to incorporate. But I think all businesses need to be registered, so I wonder if that would include the DBA listings.

[gazhekwe]

No, all businesses are not corporations. I do not know if all businesses have to be licensed. Let me go in and search one I know and see if it is in there. BRB

No, the law firm I looked up, a sole proprietorship, is not listed. The companies listed were defined as follows:

Corporation
Assumed Name
Limited Liability Company
Prior Name

The info about each company is linked separately to the page so it isn't in downloadable format as is.

Do you have an idea how many companies you would get if you got a database full of all the companies in Michigan, including those not listed in this database?

You could probably call the listed number on the search page to ask about how to save the searches and how to obtain the info on companies that are not listed.

This is what it says on the bottom of the search results page:

Search results will contain corporations which were active in 1978 or filed after 1/1/1979;
limited partnerships transferred to this agency from the county clerks on 1/1/1983 and limited partnerships filed with this office after 1/1/1983; limited liability companies filed with this office after 6/1/1993; railroad records transferred to this agency on 1/14/1994; name reservations and name registrations.
...


You will be able to view these records to determine agent, agent address, date of formation or qualification, and other general information about each entity.

[Detwa]

Well, the US databases that I found state they have about 500,000 Michigan businesses contained in their database of over 20 million listings. The prices range from very low to very high, and I really only need a couple of counties, not even all of Michigan, so its not really worth me purchasing 20 million addresses to filter out so few.

I didn't realize Michigan had that many businesses though - I wonder where they got their listings....

Thanks for the assist - I will call the Michigan number and see what they have to offer. I might also check with the county - isn't that where you register your business?

[gazhekwe]

If you only need the certain counties, do try their business links to see what they offer.

Example, Oakland County lets you search for the individual assumed names also individual business info. Since the goal is to prevent duplication, there is no way to get a general list of all the names in the database. There is contact info though, so you can call for help.

[Meddle]

Plannin' on doin' a wee-bit-o-spammin' are ye?

[Detwa]

Spam? Never. It's for a website directory that I need to populate with data. But anyway, who spams by MAIL anymore? This is 2010 - that's neither practical or affordable. Spammers use email addresses these days, not home addresses.

[gazhekwe]

If you have the database ready, be sure and ask if they can get you the data in the order you need it. With the new Michigan databases, you can get reports in any order, so most likely the saved search could be in the order you want. I am not sure if it is FOIA-ble but that is one way to make the request. The person requesting the data will be expected to pay a reasonable fee for the data.

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/FO...l_110949_7.pdf