Research Guide

This research guide brings together a wide range of business information specific to the Madison and Dane County region. It was developed by Eunice Graupner in April 2008.

Business Environment

Economic Survey of Dane County - results of annual surveys of Dane County businesses with regards to sales revenue, profitability, total operating costs as a % of revenue, capital expenditures, number of employees, overall wage change, change in pricing, and operating capacity. Research was conducted by the A.C. Nielsen Center for Marketing Research in the UW-Madison School of Business and published by First Business Financial Services, Inc.

Downtown Madison Market Analysis - "This market analysis examines opportunities to continually improve the economic health of downtown Madison." (Note: although this focuses on downtown Madison, much of the information is applicable to the entire city.)

County, Zip Code and Metro Business Patterns - number of employees, payroll size and the number of establishments, organized by NAICS code. Useful for studying economic activity in Dane County and the metropolitan Madison area from 1998 to 2005.

City of Madison 3-5 Year Strategic Economic Development Implementation Plan (March 2008) - Links to documentation and the final draft.

Downtown Economics - "A monthly e-newsletter providing ideas for expanding retail and services in your community" from the UW Cooperative Extension Center for Community and Economic Development.

Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) Estimates Report
Madison labor force, employment totals, unemployment totals and rate.

Wisconsin Economic Indicators - "A set of 22 series of data that measure Wisconsin's economic and labor market condition. A comparison of the most recently available data to previous data indicates improvement or decline of economic conditions."

Wisconsin Economic Outlook - quarterly projections from the Wisconsin Dept. of Revenue

Wisconsin's Business Climate Statistics 2007 - State of Wisconsin, Dept. of Commerce data

Company Directories

No directory lists every company, but these can be useful for basic company information such as address, phone number, sales and number of employees.

D&B Million Dollar Database - Searchable by city, county, zip code or area code. You must be a UW-Madison student, faculty or staff member to access from outside the library.

Hoovers provides comprehensive information on over 43,000 public and private companies as well as 600 industries. You must be a UW-Madison student, faculty or staff member to access from outside the library.

Wisconsin Business Services Directory
Reference Collection HG 4057 W572
Organized by city, this directory has addresses, phone/fax/toll-free numbers, SIC codes, number of employees, business description, estimated sales and date of establishment.

Wisconsin Manufacturers Directory
Reference Collection HG 4057 W581
Organized by city, this directory has addresses, phone/fax/toll-free numbers, SIC codes, number of employees, product description, estimated sales and date of establishment.

Wisconsin Minority Business Enterprise Program
Dane County minority-owned businesses.

Wisconsin State Journal Book of Lists
Reference Collection HG 4058 M25
Dane County's top accounting firms, advertising agencies, architects, engineering firms, contractors, law firms, lobbying firms, realty firms, temporary help agencies, printers, information technology onsultants.

Demographics

From the 2007 Downtown Madison Market Analysis,

American Fact Finder - business and economic statistics for quick look up. Get a "Fact Sheet" by entering a city, county or zip code.

Book of Business - Wisconsin State Journal annual publication with demographics for all Dane County zip codes - Business Library Reference Collection HG 4058 M25

QuickFacts -- choose Dane County or Madison for population, ethnic groups, housing and number of businesses.

State of Wisconsin Department of Administration Population & Housing Estimates:

  • Number of persons 15 years and older, by sex and marital status, in cities, towns and villages PDF
  • Family and nonfamily households in cities, towns and villages PDF
  • Population, number of households and household size by zip code PDF
  • Number of households by race in cities, towns and villages PDF
  • Age groups by sex and race in each county PDF
  • Number of households in each county by language spoken PDF
  • Number of urban and rural residents in each county PDF
  • Number of persons by age and type of disability in cities, towns and villages PDF
  • Education levels by county PDF

The Lifestyle Market Analyst: The Essential Source for Demographic and Lifestyle Activities - Reference Collection HF 5415.33 U6 L54
Market profile for Madison and surrounding counties. Consumer profiles by lifestyle.

The Sourcebook of Zip Code Demographics - Reference Collection HA 203 S662
Population totals, households and families for 1990, 2000 and 2005. Population composition: racial percentages (major ethnic minorities), age distribution, and median age.

Financial Resources

Financial Assistance - City of Madison Office of Business Resources

Financial Assistance - "The Wisconsin Dept. of Commerce, Division of Business Development is responsible for administering more than 25 separate economic development programs."

Madison Development Corporation - MDC's Mission is to help provide quality employment opportunities by making loans to hard to finance small businesses; and to provide quality, affordable housing for Madison and Dane County residents.

Madison Enterprise Center - Managed by Common Wealth Development, a non-profit community development corporation, MEC is a light industrial business incubator that serves start-up and expanding small businesses.

Fund Raising and Grant Writing Resources -- a compilation of local, state and federal funding sources developed by the UW Extension Center for Community and Economic Development.

Wisconsin Angel Network - The mission of the Wisconsin Angel Network (WAN) is to build early-stage capital capacity throughout Wisconsin, increasing the number and amount of equity investments in Wisconsin's entrepreneurs. 

Wisconsin Business Tax Incentives - Wisconsin Dept. of Revenue

 

Government Agencies

Madison

City of Madison Office of Business Resources - the central point of contact for business assistance in the City of Madison.

Madison City Assessor ownership histories of properties, including price paid.

State of Wisconsin

State of Wisconsin Build Your Business - This site was designed to make it easy to obtain the information you need to seriously plan and prepare for the start or expansion of your business. Keyword searching is an alternative to the "Business Wizard" (see below).

State of Wisconsin Business Wizard - Using a series of five question-and-answer pages, the Wizard provides customized information to help you start and operate a Wisconsin-based business.

State of Wisconsin Business Services - links to the state agencies, resources, programs and information on doing business in Wisconsin. Statistics include economic indicators, labor, business climate etc.

State of Wisconsin Department of Commerce

  • Small Business Ombudsman - serves as an "advocate" for small business and acts as neutral dispute resolver on issues related to state administrative rules. 
  • Technology Business Development - " a wide range of resources for technology-based businesses"
  • Technology Commercialization Programs - Technology-based economic development is one of the key elements of Governor Jim Doyle's "Grow Wisconsin" initiative. Wisconsin has tax credit, grant and loan programs to assist high-potential technology businesses.

Division of Corporate and Consumer Services, of the State of Wisconsin Department of Financial Instituions, maintains the corporate filings for over 175,793 LLCs and 131,867 business companies who are registered to do business in Wisconsin. Links include:

U. S. Small Business Administration - Wisconsin
Pages for business resources and regulatory requirements for small businesses have few links, but are heavy on advice. Great for students writing business plans.

Magazines

Business Watch: Your Dane County Business Connection - "Business Watch offers readers local business news, data and industry trends."

Capital Region Business Journal - a publication of the Wisconsin State Journal

Corporate Report: Wisconsin's Business Magazine - "investigates trends, airs issues and reports on our state’s business developments." -- inlcudes excellent industry and regional reports

In Business Magazine "The mission of In Business is to elevate the business community's profile in the Greater Madison area and to provide business professionals with information, opportunities, and insights to best manage their business and enhance professional development."

Madison Magazine - "The magazine of lifestyle and business"

UW Business News Wire - sponsored by the UW-Madison Office of Corporate Relations

WTN News - Wisconsin Technology Network - "News, analysis and commentary covering IT and the life sciences"

 

Organizations

Forward Wisconsin is a unique public-private state marketing and business recruitment organization. It provides information on starting business in Wisconsin, taxes, business costs, the labor force and a building directory.

Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce is the greater Madison area’s official destination marketing organization. The GMCVB is responsible for attracting new destination events to the community, as well as providing service and support to existing and repeat events, and providing comprehensive information to visitors to the area.

Greater Madison Convention and Visitor's Bureau
Fast Facts page has population, weather, geography recreation and fun facts.

Greater State Street Business Association
Alphabetical listing of organization member businesses, address, phone numbers and web links.

Madison Area Business Consultants (MABC) Membership Directory
Address/phone/email/URL for consultants. Extensive descriptions of services and expertise offered.

Madison Chapter of Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE)
Small business information free of charge.

Small Business Development Center, UW-Madison School of Business
Free business counseling and many short courses on owning and operating a business.

Wisconsin Entrepreneurs' Network - WEN's mission is to provide seamless access to the statewide network of entrepreneurial resources and expertise to create new ventures; help grow existing business, and move forward high potential entrepreneurs to enable Wisconsin to be competitive in a global economic environment.

Wisconsin Women's Business Initiative Corporation is an economic development corporation providing quality business education and access to capital for entrepreneurs. WWBIC consults, educates and mentors owners of small and micro businesses throughout Wisconsin.

Wages

American Salaries and Wages Survey
Reference Collection HD 4973 A67

Occupational Employment Statistics lists annual and hourly wages for all occupations in the Madison MSA.

Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages