industry pick list

If you want the full range of industries, here's a good list:
http://www.alacrastore.com/search-by/company

The NAICS system provides an excellent set of industry categories that is a national / government standard. The NAICS code for each company is 6-digits and you can obtain this from free sources like Manta.com or paid sources like Data.com.  The full 6 digit categories are way too granular for most purposes, but a mix of the 20 Sector categories and the 93 sub-sector categories can meet most needs.  Below are those categories.

NAICS Sector	NAICS Subsector
Accommodation and Food Services	Accommodation
	Food Services and Drinking Places
Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services	Administrative and Support Services
	Waste Management and Remediation Services
Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	Animal Production
	Crop Production
	Fishing, Hunting and Trapping
	Forestry and Logging
	Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry
Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation	Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries
	Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institution
	Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries
Construction	Construction of Buildings
	Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction
	Specialty Trade Contractors
Educational Services	(blank)
Finance and Insurance	Credit Intermediation and Related Activities
	Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles
	Insurance Carriers and Related Activities
	Monetary Authorities-Central Bank
	Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities
	(blank)
Health Care and Social Assistance	Ambulatory Health Care Services
	Hospitals
	Nursing and Residential Care Facilities
	Social Assistance
Information	Broadcasting (except Internet)
	Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services
	Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries
	Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries
	Other Information Services
	Publishing Industries (except Internet)
	Telecommunications
Management of Companies and Enterprises	(blank)
Manufacturing	Apparel Manufacturing
	Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing
	Chemical Manufacturing
	Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing
	Electrical Equipment, Appliance, and Component Manufacturing
	Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing
	Food Manufacturing
	Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing
	Leather and Allied Product Manufacturing
	Machinery Manufacturing
	Miscellaneous Manufacturing
	Nonmetallic Mineral Product Manufacturing
	Paper Manufacturing
	Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing
	Plastics and Rubber Product Manufacturing
	Primary Metal Manufacturing
	Printing and Related Support Activities
	Textile Mills
	Textile Product Mills
	Transportation Equipment Manufacturing
	Wood Product Manufacturing
Mining	Mining (except Oil and Gas)
	Oil and Gas Extraction
	Support Activities for Mining
Other Services (except Public Administration)	Personal and Laundry Services
	Private Households
	Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations
	Repair and Maintenance
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
Public Administration	(blank)
Real Estate and Rental and Leasing	Real Estate
	Rental and Leasing Services
Retail Trade	Building Material and Garden Equipment and Supplies Dealers
	Clothing and Clothing Accessories Stores
	Electronics and Appliance Stores
	Food and Beverage Stores
	Furniture and Home Furnishings Stores
	Gasoline Stations
	General Merchandise Stores
	Health and Personal Care Stores
	Miscellaneous Store Retailers
	Motor Vehicle and Parts Dealers
	Nonstore Retailers
	Sporting Goods, Hobby, Book, and Music Stores
Transportation and Warehousing	Air Transportation
	Couriers and Messengers
	Pipeline Transportation
	Postal Service
	Rail Transportation
	Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation
	Support Activities for Transportation
	Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation
	Truck Transportation
	Warehousing and Storage
	Water Transportation
Utilities	Utilities
Wholesale Trade	Merchant Wholesalers, Durable Goods
	Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods
	Wholesale Electronic Markets and Agents and Brokers

Hi Jenny,

You may also want to research the lists used within forms of your competitors as it may very well save you some time.

I tweaked the best ones slightly to suite how we want to segment our marketing by key verticals.  

Just a thought as these larger lists can be over whelming to start with. 

I hope this helps.

Regards, Victoria