Sorry for the delay in getting you the August newsletter. There is so much going on with updated NAICS files, our new NAICS Bridge, and of course, it's summer time.

NEW, UPDATED NAICS LISTINGS AND REFEENCE TABLES

Continuing our dedication to providing the best in NAICS and SIC information, the NAICS Association is shipping the latest NAICS listings and reference tables updated as of August 1998. For your information, these are minor changes from the original information released April 1997 and consist mostly of simple description changes and a few SIC code additions.

If you would like further information on these changes or an updated version of any of these electronic files, please see our web site at:

http://www.naics.com

or call the NAICS Association at (435) 755-6003.

No. The government won't have to make you change . It can simply stop giving you information based on SIC codes and provide only NAICS information. Then you can choose for yourself to continue using an outdated classification system, or move on to NAICS.

I've heard people talk about NAICS like it was the next Metric System. That it will somehow just go away. Well, I don't think so. SIC codes have not been updated since 1987, and just can't keep up with the new industries.

On the other hand, it will not be an overnight change. Just take a look at the U.S. Government implementation schedule:

Agency and Series                                               Publication
                                                                Date

NAICS United States Manual                                      Spring 1998

BUREAU OF THE CENSUS Implementation Plans                       1997
Economic Census Reports
     Advance General Statistics data for manufacturing,         1st Qtr 1999
     construction, retail trade, wholesale trade, finance,
     insurance, real estate, services, communications,
     transportation, and public utilities (limited NAICS, SIC Information)
     Industry, Geographic, Subject reports for all trade areas   Flow basis
     listed above - NAICS only                                   beginning
                                                                 2nd Qtr
1999 through 2001
     Final Report showing "bridge" tables - 1997 by NAICS        March 2000
     and SIC (all trade areas)         Current Surveys
     1998 County Business Patterns (annual)                      June 2000
     1998 Annual Survey of Manufactures                          March 2000
     Manufactures Shipments, Inventories, and Unfilled Orders    2001
     (monthly)
     Research and Development Survey (annual) - show 97 and      March 2001
     98 data on NAICS basis
     Monthly Wholesale Trade Survey                              2001
     Advance/Monthly Retail Trade Survey                         2001
     Manufacturing and Trade Inventories and Sales (monthly)     2001
     Plant Capacity
     1999 Annual Trade Survey (collect and publish 1999          March 2001
     and 1998 data on NAICS basis)
     1999 Annual Retail Trade Survey (collect and publish 1999   April 2001
     and 1998 data on NAICS basis)
     Quarterly Financial Report (4th quarter 2000 with 1-5       March 2001
     quarters restated NAICS data)
     1999 Annual Capital Expenditures Survey                     Feb 2001
     1999 Service Annual Survey (collect and publish 1999        Feb. 2001
          and 1998 data on a NAICS basis)
     1999 Transportation Annual Survey (collect and publish      Feb. 2001
     1999 and 1998 data on a NAICS basis)
     1999 Annual Survey of Communication Services (collect       Dec. 2000
     and publish 1999 and 1998 data on a NAICS basis)
     Foreign Trade Import/Export Data Converted to a NAICS       1998 Basis

Census Surveys for which conversion to NAICS is Not Applicable
     (or will not be converted to NAICS)
     1997 Census of Outlying Areas (Puerto Rico, etc.
         - conducted every 5 years)
     1997 Business Expenditure Survey (conducted every 5 years)
     1997 Nonemployer Statistics (derived from administrative records
         - IRS will not convert to NAICS until tax year 1998)
     1997 Commodity Flow Survey      1997 Truck Inventory and Use Survey
(TIUS)
     Current Industrial Reports (product based surveys)
     Housing Starts and Building Permits (monthly)
     New One-Family Houses Sold and For Sale (monthly)
     Value of Construction Put in Place (monthly)
     Housing Completions (monthly)     Manufactured (Mobile) Homes (monthly)
     Expenditures for Residential Improvements and Repairs (quarterly)
                 BUREAU OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS Implementation Plans
     1997 Foreign Direct Investment Benchmark Survey             1999
     1999 U.S. Direct Investment Abroad Benchmark Survey         2001
     1998 Annual Foreign Direct Investment Survey                2000
     2000 Annual U.S. Direct Investment Abroad Survey            2002
     Quarterly Foreign Direct Investment Survey (data year 2001) 2001
     Quarterly U.S. Direct Investment Abroad Survey (data year   2002
2002)
     1997 Benchmark Input-Output Accounts                        2002
     1998 Corporate Profits                                      2001
     2000 State Personal Income                                  2001
     2001 Gross Product Originating by Industry                  2002
     2001 Real Inventories, Sales, and Inventory-Sales Ratios    2002
     for Manufacturing and Trade
     2001 Gross State Product by Industry                        2003

BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS Implementation Plans
     2000 Employment and Wages Report (annual)                   2001
     2002 Current Employment Statistics Survey (monthly)         2003
     2002 Occupational Employment Statistics (annual)            2003
     Producer Price Index/1997 Net Output Indexes (monthly)      2004

INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE                              January 1, 1999

 Indeed, this change-over from SIC to NAICS will progress slowly for the next 2 to 5 years, but it will happen. The real question is when is the right time for you to start taking advantage of the new information? When will you need to start tracking some of over 350 new industry categories? When will your customers start providing NAICS instead of SIC and wonder why you haven't kept pace with others in your industry? How long can you afford to let your competition have this kind of advantage?

NEW SIC TO NAICS BRIDGE ASCII FILE

Get your data conversion process started and completed with the new SIC to NAICS Bridge from the NAICS Association. This exciting new ASCII file contains over 19,000 lines of SIC to NAICS code conversions in comma delimited format for your conversion programs and importing into your databases.

For months we have been carefully correlating each SIC code in relation with the new NAICS codes and have developed a complete conversion reference table. This comma delimited ASCII file has separate fields for SIC code, NAICS code, complete description, indicators for existing, new, revised, etc. codes, and designations for base industry types (production, trade, and services).

With this new SIC to NAICS Bridge you can easily convert all you existing data and begin to take advantage of the new classifications, the new structured format, and the new data coming from the U.S. government.

As always, you can order any of our products directly by phone or fax at:

NAICS Association - (435) 755-6003

THIS MONTHS QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

In this section we will share some of the common questions we get on our web site along with our response.

 Q. - Why would I need an SIC Code for a home based business?

A. - You may need to enter SIC or NAICS codes when filling out government
        Forms or when applying for services from banks, CPA's, etc.
       This information is used to help other companies categorize your
       Business for their own marketing database and government reports.

 Q. - How many NAICS codes are there?

A. - There are over 1800 individual codes and descriptions.