But lately, things are picking up.

"Yes, finally," Harris says,when asked about conditions. "In the last three or four months, I've definitely seen an upturn ... I do see more inquiries than a year ago." And, he says, the inquiries are translating to sales.

Harris' experience reflects what economists are saying and surveys are indicating as the economy warms up, businesses are getting ready to spend again.

According to the results of Hartford Business Journal poll of 100 executives taken Dec. 12-16 by Bourget Research Group of West Hartford, a third of respondents expect to see capital spending increase in 2004.

Of those companies anticipating more capital spending the executives who were polled said they expect their capital spending to rise by an average of 19 percent.

"We've definitely seen a pickup in capital spending," says Peter Gioia, chief economist for the Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA).

"I think 2004, barring any calamity like a major terrorist incident, is poised to be a pretty good year."

Today, he says, the state "is positioned in a dramatically different place from last year," and for several reasons. For one, there have been longer dry spells for companies major orders of new goods. "A lot of companies need to upgrade their equipment," Gioia says.

Compared to last year there is greater confidence in the business community today, along with a continued gain in productivity and stronger bottom lines. Improvements on Wall Street are helping big companies, especially when it comes to borrowing. A lower prime rate continues to be good news for consumers and small business borrowers, Gioia notes.

A recent survey of Connecticut purchasing managers by CBIA found that most (57 percent) believe economic conditions will improve in 2004. And many (39 percent) expect more orders to be placed.

"The results of this survey indicate that business has seen a surge of activity lately on the local level, especially in capital spending, purchases, of equipment, computers and machinery complimenting what we have seen on the national level," says Gioia.

Even office furniture companies, such as Harris' and BKM Total Office in East Hartford, are seeing more business, despite the fact that furniture is often the last thing companies will replace.

"We sense that the atmosphere is changing," says Dennis Isogina, General Manager at BKM. "We're starting to see more activity, but it's not reflected in bookings yet."

He sees other areas of the business picking up as well. Furniture storage, for example, has been very good.

"A lot of major companies are storing their product while their space is being underutilized," he says, "and that can include everything from desks and chairs to full cubicle office systems."

Isogina says he expects to see an upturn in the first quarter of 2004 and is looking at 3 to 5 percent growth for the year. "The industry is still not rebounding," he says, noting that orders for higher end office furniture are down while lower-priced pieces are more popular.

"The attitude of customers has been 'This is good enough.' There is flight to value," he says.

From Isogina's perspective, things are "soft" in the finance, insurance and real estate sectors, while medium sized companies - those with 25 to 200 employees - "have been pretty active over the past couple of years."

Technology upgrades are also in the plans for some businesses, but larger companies may be more cautious about spending. According to a recent survey by Forrester Research Inc., of Cambridge, MA, of more than 800 IT executives working at companies with revenues of more than $500 million, 32 percent said they planned to increase IT spending in 2004. But on average, Forrester found, they are only budgeting a 1.7 percent increase in spending.

The types of companies increasing their IT budgets the most, Forrester found, are companies in retail, insurance, and consumer services.

ImageWorks, a 7-year-old Web site design company in Vernon, has seen an uptick in business over the past quarter, says company president Jeff Cohen, and it's come from a variety of sectors.

"A lot of people are coming back to us now and saying, 'We've had this site for two years and we want to add to it,' '" Cohen says. "They want to add services for their clients so they can be more competitive."

Some of those services include more e-commerce functions, more information for clients about orders or project status reports, or even dedicated client areas for their Web sites.

Some firms are now more cash fluid, Cohen says, and are more willing and able to spend on upgrades. He recalled a job placement services company that decided to add a time reporting system to the company Web site.

"Even though this company had to spend several thousand dollars, their savings are going to be almost immediately Cohen says. "They don't mind spending the money up front and there's a little more money out there."

One "really good barometer" for Cohen: "Fewer of my customers are going out of business and more are starting up companies and contacting us. I even had one call this morning."

Among some of the new start-ups ImageWorks has heard from in the past 30 days are a new marine center, a shedbuilding company, a service company for architects and a payroll company.

"A catering company called last week. They were failing, then they were bought out," Cohen says. "That's somebody pumping money into the economy."

Ekris Cable Co. of New Britain, which provides a variety of cable, fiber optic, ethernet and communications wiring services, has also experienced a recent busy period, says installation manager Erik Robinson.

"It's pretty wild. In the last two weeks we've seen a big increase," Robinson says. "It's one of the first real signs of life we've seen in a while."

Robinson attributes some of the activity to year-end budgetary spending. "A lot of people have been fiscally conservative in the past year. Now, it's use-it-or-lose-it time," he says.

"We've seen a lot of companies downsizing, shuffling space or moving altogether. There's not much upgrading. I think people are still conservative," Robinson added.

At Farmington-based SourceOne which provides a variety of marketing and fulfillment services for the financial services industry business started picking up in November.

"Compared to last year, we have seen an increase in volume and the things [companies] are ordering," says Kim Seder, SourceOne's comptroller.

"Client companies are ordering more sales and promotional materials," Seder says. "They're out selling more, so we have to provide them with more materials."

Seder recalled one customer that she identified only as a life insurance company headquartered in Connecticut. "This one customer plans to increase their sales force by 30 percent in the first half of the year," she said. "Their volumes are increasing."