Business & Leadership Research Guide (CAPS & GS)

Freedonia analysts and economists share their insights on how major events (such as COVID-19) are impacting different parts of the US and global economies.

Premier source for detailed information about the American people and workforce

Measures the amount of time people spend doing various activities, such as paid work, childcare, volunteering, commuting, and socializing. Estimates show the kinds of activities people do and the time spent doing them by sex, age, educational attainment, labor force status, and other characteristics, as well as by weekday and weekend day.

Tool for investigating U.S. demographic trends. Charts and trends for states, metro areas, and counties. Maps showing social trends by region. State and county-level rankings by population growth, race, educational attainment, language, gender, etc. From the Social Science Data Analysis Network (SSDAN) at the University of Michigan.

The Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE) program consists of two surveys, the quarterly Interview Survey and the Diary Survey, that provide information on the buying habits of American consumers, including data on their expenditures, income, and consumer unit (families and single consumers) characteristics. The survey data are collected for the Bureau of Labor Statistics by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The County Business Patterns data published by the US Census Bureau track employment by county and industry from 1946 to the present. Two features of the data limit their usefulness to researchers in practice: employment for the majority of county-industry cells is suppressed to protect confidentiality; and industry classifications change over time. This database addresses both issues. First, it developed a linear programming method that exploits the large set of adding-up constraints implicit in the hierarchical arrangement of the data to impute missing employment. Second, it provides concordances to map all data to a consistent set of industry codes.

See how major companies in the world economy rank across the nine dimensions of corporate culture, based on more than 1 million Glassdoor reviews.

Tools and datasets that allow one to locate data by: MN & County, City & Township, Zip Code, and MN Legislative Districts

Some of the most commonly requested data and resources about Minnesota and Minnesotans arranged by topic. For example: Population data; age, race & ethnicity; economy; education; income & poverty; labor force; Minnesota Milestones

Data, tools, and resources to conduct research, develop web and mobile applications, design data visualizations, and more.

Includes information on population, race, age, and disability

Access to information about America's people, places, and economy. Replaces American FactFinder.

Provides access to statistics collected from several agencies in the U.S. Federal Government.

Provides access to basic reports and maps of population demographics by state legislative district.

A nonpartisan research organization that seeks to improve understanding of the U.S. Hispanic population and to chronicle Latinos' growing impact on the nation.

Statistics regarding housing, home ownership, financing, and more from these surveys: American Housing Survey; Decennial Housing Census; Housing Vacancy; Residential Finance; Survey of Market Absorption

A leading information and resource website for those involved in marketing, market research, advertising, selling, promotion, and other marketing-related areas.

Provides data-driven market intelligence including market trends, industry analysis, and business metrics covering many industries. TIP: Industry Insights tab along the top of page links to coverage of various industries.

Data on who lives in MN, where, and quality of life

The main provider of demographic data and analysis for the state of Minnesota. The SDC assists with locating and understanding demographic data.

Numbers, facts, and trends shaping your world

Analyzes population data and research to create reports, studies, and papers on demographic trends, hot topics, and international regions. Use this great resource to investigate trends at home or abroad.

Free case studies, articles, and tools for better marketing research and insights

Includes access to data on construction, economy, housing, population, transportation, employment, land use, etc.

Data for individual metropolitan areas, central cities, and suburbs. Includes detailed demographic and economic characteristics of the population, latest available unemployment rates, information on jobs, business establishments, average pay, violent and property crime rates, local building permits, etc.

A selected list of websites providing demographic information

Surveys cover consumer attitudes towards the economy, their personal finances, buying habits for selected big-ticket items, and more. Free registration required for access.

Social, demographic, population, economic, and geographic census data

Over 500 free sample business plans.

Provides a list of industries from which one can select. Under each industry, a listing of sample business plans is shown. These listings are combinations of plans that are available online and plans that are available in print format. A listing that shows a title, volume and page number is in print. Contact your librarian for assistance in locating these.

Business plans that are examples of the complete business plans sold on TheFinanceResouce.com website

This company is an international consulting firm specializing in planning and performance systems based upon innovative and proven One Page Business Plan methodology. Provides access to sample business plans.

This template includes instructions for each section of the business plan, followed by corresponding fillable worksheets.

Customize the provided deck with information on your company or business idea.

How to write an accurate, detailed, concise, and comprehensive business plan that will give you the best chance of funding and assist you in understanding your own business.