Lisa and Howard Chubinsky, principals and co-founders of Staff Providers L.L.C.

For two years, Howard's wife, Lisa, spoke about the prospects of opening a business together. Lisa had an extensive track record working in executive levels for recruiting and staffing firms.

She was concerned about her husband's commute to the city from the couple's Wilton home. "I knew together we could do a wonderful job in providing companies with solid services," said Lisa.

Howard said he agreed with his wife's vision that they could collaborate and bring their different skills and strengths to a business. In early 2001, he went a step further. Howard wrapped up his cases and legal briefs to pursue the couple's dream. He sold his law practice to the president of the bar association. "It was a smooth transition," Howard said of selling the business.

But the harder transition came when the couple realized that they were starting a business during a recession. "It was a time when large corporations were in layoff and hiring freeze modes, with even some staffing firms laying off, too," Howard said.

According to figures from Hunt-Scanlon Publishing Company Inc., Stamford, a research firm tracking the recruiting industry, seven of the top 10 search firms experienced declines in 2002. Combined, they generated under $1 billion in revenues that year.

The Chubinskys realized the uphill climb ahead of them and decided to target one industry instead of trying to get clients from several. They chose hospitals and medical practices which they say do well for recruiting firms even when the economy falters. "A person who is ill needs medical care regardless of the state of the economy," Howard said. Hospital and medical facilities will always need sufficient staffing to meet patient volumes.

The couple hedged their bets on the industry, pooled their resources together, including the funds from the sale of the law firm, and started Staff Providers L.L.C. "We leaned on our personal assets until we got a stream of income coming in from the staffing firm."

The business' growth came in baby steps. First, it came with a move to a small office on Danbury Road in Wilton. Lisa set out looking for job seekers who she could match with clients while Howard used the contacts he had garnered in the law to develop the business. He joined most of the chambers of commerce in the area, and began networking and marketing. The couple sent out letters and brochures to employers and e-mailed literature and flyers when they requested. Then when potential companies responded, Howard handed them over to Lisa so she could fill their positions.

As word spread among clients so did the company's client base. The Chubinskys decided to step out of their comfort zone and began targeting accounting firms and financial companies. Since it began, the company's revenues have doubled each year. The couple did not disclose actual revenues.

The company has also moved out of its small office space to a larger facility in Wilton near the Merritt Parkway. "We're more in the heart of the corporate business community," Howard said. He said he is cautious of expanding the business too rapidly. "The business is not like Las Vegas where I have no control over the little ball spinning around in the roulette wheel. I like to have as much control as possible so we can arrive at a satisfactory outcome," said Howard.

As part of its efforts to control the quality of its placements, the company occasionally hires temporary personnel to supplement its staff of six employees. This strategy helps to determine which employees might be suitable for positions on the horizon.

Also, Howard said the company refuses to engage in the practice of faxing resumes "by the pound" to clients who need workers. It also does not send individuals out on assignments without interviewing them first. "It's really a question of chemistry," Howard said of the process of matching the right person to the right job.

Going to clients' offices and seeing their workplace is also a part of the Chubinskys' practice. Howard said visiting clients enables him to feel the energy of the work environment and take mental notes of dress codes and formalities or informalities.

"We've made a commitment to listening to clients instead of focusing on numbers. We don't just send resumes out blindly," said Lisa. When references are checked and placements made, clients receive follow-up phone calls from the company so it can evaluate the success of its placements.

So far the company has close to 400 employers for which it has placed temporary and permanent staff in Westchester County, N.Y., New York City and New Haven County. A third of its placements are in the health-care industry. "We've identified the leading employers in the area. Our endgame is to turn those prospects into clients," said Howard.

As the economy improved and companies began to hire again, the industry experienced a slow rebound. "We've really passed a lot of the bad times and we're confident there'll be continued economic growth and employers will make decisions to hire more," Howard said.

Leslie McIntyre, president of The McIntyre Group L.L.C., Norwalk, a staffing firm, said placements, especially in accounting and finance positions, have been growing. "It's just booming and we've seen growth by about 30 percent last year," McIntyre said.

She expects it to continue.

Whether businesses are doing well or poorly, they still need top-notch professionals. The market is definitely changing back to the way it was, McIntyre indicated.

"Companies are finally on their way back. I'm happy it (the recession) is over. It's been a hard couple of years but we're still here," said McIntyre.

According to Hunt-Scanlon, "projected long-term growth prospects still remain positive for the search industry due to favorable demographic trends and employee turnover statistics."

If those trends continue, the Chubinskys hope to expand beyond their areas of specialty and hire additional recruiters. They also plan to open an additional two offices.

"Fairfield County is the global headquarters to many large corporations and these corporations need talented people," Howard said. For those companies, Lisa said, "We want to do a bang-up job."