About MNI
The data behind this toolkit comes from one of the most trusted names in American industry.
MNI has been documenting U.S. manufacturers and industrial businesses since 1912 — more than 110 years of firsthand research into how American manufacturing actually operates. What began as print directories has grown into one of the nation's most comprehensive industrial databases, covering nearly half a million U.S. manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, and industrial service providers.
Unlike data assembled through web scraping or automated tools, MNI's information is built and maintained by a dedicated team of researchers who verify company profiles directly: through phone calls, email outreach, and ongoing contact with industrial facilities across the country. That process captures the kind of operational detail that automated sources simply miss: how companies are structured, who makes decisions, how roles overlap, what facilities actually produce, and how businesses have evolved over time.
That same depth of real-world knowledge informed this toolkit. The statistics, patterns, and observations about how manufacturing businesses are organized and managed reflect what MNI's research has documented across decades of direct engagement with the U.S. industrial sector.
MNI's data is relied upon by major media outlets, government agencies, and industry organizations as a benchmark for the American manufacturing landscape. Its platforms, IndustrySelect and IndustryNet, are used by businesses across the country to research, identify, and connect with manufacturers and suppliers.