It's the "year the company was founded", not "the year they started using this tech".

Given the size of scope of the project Microsoft Access could work for him.

However, since it appeared he had an interest in learning something more advanced (and my personal vendetta against bad Access applications), I avoided mentioning it.

Python can manage such a database by itself, and it is possible to build one using only Python. The key point to remember is that Python itself does now know what a database is, or how to manage one, and you have to program that functionality into whatever you are doing.

MySQL and other software like it are actual database managers, specifically designed around that task. The reason for my suggestion of a scripting language and a framework allow you to build a nicer interface to interact with the database. It is usually quicker to fill in a form and hit submit, than it is to write a SQL (Structured Query Language) statement by hand.

That sounds like you need to learn how to use a database as most of that functionality you are using are simple queries. So pick up MySQL, SQLite, or PostrgreSQL, and start learning.

Another thing you probably want is a management interface. In cthat case I would suggest learning HTML, and any server side sripting language that you like (Ruby, Python, PHP, etc...). Then learn a framework for the language you chose to go with. Ruby on Rails, Django, and CakePHP are ones you could start with, but there are alternatives to everything.