I want to know if the company called "Federal Prison Industries" also
known as UNICOR actually has stocks (and stockholders). How do I
verify this? I know it is a for-profit company which is run by the
Department of Justice, but there seem to be conflicting reports about
whether it actually has stock/stockholders or not.

Howdy ian6010!

Please note the "Important Disclaimer: Answers and comments
provided on Google Answers are general information, and are
not intended to substitute for informed professional medical,
psychiatric, psychological, tax, legal, investment, accounting,
or other professional advice."

According to the UNICOR 2002 Annual Report - Notes to Financial
Statements located at:
http://www.unicor.gov/about/2002annual/notes01.htm

"Federal Prison Industries, Inc. (FPI) was established in 1934
by an act of the United States Congress. FPI operates under
the trade name UNICOR, as a wholly owned federal government
corporation within the Department of Justice, and functions
under the direction and control of a Board of Directors (the
Board). Members of the Board are appointed by the President
and represent retailers and consumers, agriculture, industry,
labor, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Defense."

So as such a "wholly owned federal government corporation"
UNICOR does not have stock and/or stockholders.

Phone numbers and addresses of the UNICOR Board of Directors
can be found at the FPI Board of Directors web page at:
http://www.unicor.gov/about/bodadd.htm

If you need any clarification, feel free to ask.


Search Strategy: Searched the UNICOR website at:
http://www.unicor.gov

Looking Forward, denco-ga

---

Request for Answer Clarification by ian6010-ga on 10 Jun 2003 14:29 PDT

Yes- i have read the UNICOR annual reports myself and therefore I have
of course seen that it is a "wholly owned government corporation", yet
there are numerous reports (one of which your other researcher cited
below) that UNICOR in fact does have stock holders. My intention in
submitting this query to google was to get deeper than UNICOR's
website. I suppose I figured google research would look at places
(such as stock sites, stock publications, ect) not UNICOR's very own
site.

I feel a bit had with this research request, to be quite frank.

---

Clarification of Answer by denco-ga on 11 Jun 2003 12:51 PDT

Howdy ian6010,

Please note that the "report" that thx1138 quotes is not really
any true report of anything, but rather a bit of a rant.

The fact is that if one goes to a financial quote system, such
as Yahoo, and does a lookup for UNICOR, it shows no results for
them:
http://finance.yahoo.com/l?s=unicor&t=S&m=US

Sorry, but what is stated on the UNICOR web site are the facts,
and just like other "government" services of this type, such as
the U.S Postal Service (USPS), even though they are US government
mandated, regulated, etc. they also have exclusivity over certain
sectors and are supposed to make a profit in order to fund their
own operations.

I did search stock websites, etc. but since there is no credible
information that I could find that stated anything different than
the UNICOR website, there was no reason to reference them.

You wanted to know if UNICOR had stock and/or stockholders, and
the answer is simply no, they do not.

Looking Forward, denco-ga

For information:

"The list of Unicor stockholders is the best kept secret since the
Manhattan Project. This information can not be given to anyone except
a federal agency, and even they cannot obtain the information without
written authorization, directly from the U.S. Attorney General. The
records cannot even by subpoenaed. Unless the Attorney General gives
direct authorization, not even the F.B.I. or the I.R.S. can discover
your investment. You can verify this for yourself, by calling your
senator, your congressman, and your governor, if they're willing to
discuss it. Like it or not, you are financing this entire operation by
paying taxes, so you may as well buy some stock, and own a little
piece of this money machine."
http://users.ashlandcc.org/jnapora/voices/michael_robinson.htm

And from the UNICOR website:
"By way of background, FPI is a wholly-owned government corporation,
established by Congress in 1934."
http://www.unicor.gov/about/bodadd.htm

Hello again ian6010

I don't think there is any great conspiracy going on in the government
or the prison system, and as denco-ga pointed out, UNICOR is wholly
owned by the government. Anyway, who would want to buy shares in an
organization that has to receive a government subsidy of $3.8 million
in order to survive.

"Created to reduce inmate recidivism by teaching job skills, UNICOR
brought in $534 million in revenue last year, all of which goes back
into the program. UNICOR also receives a congressional subsidy, which
was $3.8 million last year"
http://207.27.3.29/features/1199/1199s5.htm

Also if we look at Hoover's entry for UNICOR, it lists no shares.
http://www.hoovers.com/annuals/3/0,2168,43053,00.html

Also if we look on the MSN stock wizard, there is no mention of UNICOR
http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/common/find.asp?NextPage=/investor/research/wizards/srwcompare.asp

Best regards

THX1138