CITY IN DECLINE? PERHAPS WE SHOULD TRY A LITTLE HARDER.(News)(Bill Mcclellan<On My Own Column)(Profile\David Caito)

IT WAS, or should have been, a magic moment in the city's comeback.

On June 19th, in a crowded ballroom at the Ritz hotel, David Caito, the president of Triad Manufacturing, was honored as the local manufacturing industry's Entrepreneur of the Year.

Here was truly a local success story.

A St. Louis native and graduate of Hazelwood East High School, Caito attended Florissant Valley Community College for one year before getting a warehouse job for a store fixtures distributor. He worked his way up to purchasing manager.

In 1991, Caito and a co-worker, Mike McCormick, decided to go out on their own. Caito was 30. McCormick was 31. They had precious little …