DataJoe system simplifies list process

SBJ’s “list year” ends with the publication of the annual Book of Lists – and promptly begins again the very next week with the lists in the weekly issues of the newspaper. SBJ decided that with the beginning of the 2006 list year, (in preparation for the 2007 Book of Lists), we would bring on board a database system to streamline the information compilation process, and deliver a cleaner, easier-to-read list product.

Enter DataJoe. DataJoe is a Colorado-based database company that works with other companies to handle their data. And here at SBJ, we certainly have plenty of data.

According to SBJ list researcher Joyce Embree, DataJoe’s program will contain all of the information gathered for the lists – even for those companies that supply information but do not make the final cut – and will track the data year after year.

Now that DataJoe is part of our list-researching arsenal, there are some changes to the lists. Embree said that the margins for each list are set, and each category gets the same amount of space. In the past, she could go in and input all information; some entries were “thicker,” depending on the amount of information in a given category, such as services. Companies that listed more services had more space, because the longer listing of services took up more room. Now, though, all companies on the lists get the same, set amount of space.

What that means is that the competition to garner a space on one of SBJ’s list just heated up a few more degrees. While the new lists are crisper, cleaner and easier to read, there’s not as much room for individual companies on the listings. For example, Embree said, lists that had room for 20 companies in 2005 might now only have room for 14 or 16.

Just about every company contacted for a list would like to make the final cut. But if EVERY company was going to be included, it would take away from the value of the lists, and negate the hours and hours of research that go into unearthing company information and ranking the businesses according to the criteria set forth for each list. They are, after all, lists of the area’s largest companies.

And just as there are changes as a result of DataJoe, rest assured that some things will stay the same. Embree will continue to dig into information and do everything she can to be sure that what our lists report is truthful and accurate.

At the bottom of each list is the statement, “Springfield Business Journal relies upon the individual businesses to be truthful in their representation of information listed.” While that’s absolutely a true statement, be sure that when questions arise, Embree is on the phone, working to get the answers we need.

There’s another statement that we run with each list: “Only agencies that responded to requests for information were considered for publication.” The key word in that sentence is considered; filling out the questionnaires is not a guarantee that any company will be on any list. Those companies that provide us with the information we need will be considered, but they may not make the final cut, depending on how their ranking data – which varies from list to list – stacks up against other companies within the same industry.

What Embree would like most, of course, is for every company she contacts to provide her with information, thereby ensuring healthy competition for the listings and a more accurate picture of the industries they represent.

For that to happen, we rely on the business owners and company representatives whose businesses help to fuel the economic engine that is southwest Missouri. Next time you receive a fax or a phone call from Embree, take a few minutes to respond. Your company might make the list, but you’ll never know for sure unless you participate.

Maria Hoover is SBJ Focus editor.[[In-content Ad]]