"It's either groceries or insurance, groceries or gas, groceries or medicine," says Pete Solik, an electrician.

Solik is talking about the hard decisions he faced after he was laid off from M&L electrical in June 2009.

"Nobody really saw it coming. It was kinda like a smack ot the face," Solid said.

Solik was one of more than 40 employees the company laid off last year. As the economy worsened, business dried up, many projects were put on hold and sales fell 70%.

"Things got really slow and business went downhill," Solik said.

He began to collect unemployment benefits. And for six months, he tried to find a new job, but to no avail.

"I climbed the walls, I beat the streets, I knocked on doors...nobody was hiring," Solid said.

He was almost at the end of his rope. In fact, he was on the his way to interview for a job in Indiana when he heard some good news.

"I was told then things were starting to pick up. It looks good, you're gonna be coming back, I was just overjoyed," he said.

President Chris Mosley says the company began to get more business near the end of last year.

"In December 2009, January 2010, our workload had substantially increased," Mosley said.

Mosley says companies are beginning to open up projects and expand again. And he's been able to hire back almost everyone he had to let go.

"We're not sure but things look positive," Mosley said.

And employees like Solik are hoping the trend continues.

"It's looking good, it's promising, you just gotta keep your fingers crossed," Solik said.

Mosley says sales aren't at where they used to be just yet, but the company is doing well enough to bring in new hires.