Folks in the Natchez business community have a real opportunity to put their money where their mouth is today. At noon at the Ramada Hilltop Inn, community leaders with an interest in helping shape our next generation will meet to plan the upcoming Groundhog Job Shadow Day.

The event, which will pair hundreds of local ninth-grade students with &uot;real people&uot; in the workforce for one day, is a proactive approach to helping train tomorrow’s workforce. Participating businesses will give these youngsters the opportunity to see the working world first-hand – and more important, the opportunity to explore their interests first-hand. And those are invaluable experiences for anyone – even more so for young minds ripe for shaping and learning.

In a community where economic development and job opportunities are buzz words bandied about by everyone from school teachers to political office-holders, any real changes and any real improvements to both situations hinge on total community involvement. And that means both educational and economic communities.

The partnership between the Chamber of Commerce’s Education Committee, the Natchez-Adams County Economic Development Authority through its Schools-to-Careers grant, and Junior Achievement is a formidable one. And with the backing and involvement of the business community, the program can easily be successful.

So we encourage you to attend the dutch-treat luncheon today to sign up for the job shadowing exercise. And, if you can’t attend, contact either the Chamber at 445-4611 or the EDA at 445-0288 to volunteer for the program on Feb. 2.

It’s an investment that will pay dividends for the entire community.