The welcome signs certainly don’t read, “Welcome to Natchez: Home of the best customer service in the South.”

As I’ve heard since I moved to town, such a statement would be a lie.

“How may I help you,” isn’t exactly a phrase that rolls off smiling lips of the vast majority of department store, restaurant and hotel clerks around town. Sure, a few folks mutter it, but that nearly defeats the purpose of the question.

The problem doesn’t just lay with the retail and service sectors, area business leaders said last week. The problem is the workforce.

It’s not a Walmart problem or a fast food restaurant woe. It’s a worry behind the closed doors of plants, office buildings and non-public workplaces as well.

The sectors of the Miss-Lou workforce that are willing may not be able due to transportation and childcare woes.

Those that are able to transport themselves to work may simply not do so on time.

Other situations are more frightening. Some local employers have announced a scheduled drug test to their workers, only to still have employees fail.

One local business said an employee turned in a job application and proceeded to urinate — not in a bathroom — on the property on his way out.

Other bosses have employees who simply don’t know how to work with others, how to greet the public or how to even make eye contact.

Regardless of the problem, the solution is needed.

A weak workforce not only aggravates residents trying to shop in local stores, it turns away industries, jobs and development.

When I was in junior high school, our school district taught home economics. We learned to sew, cook, clean and take care of babies. Many school districts in the country have done away with the class since then, but maybe it’s time to substitute a replacement — job training.

Schools need to begin teaching students how to shake hands, look people in the eye and flash a professional smile.

We need to teach our young people how to dress for work, how to correspond with their boss or co-workers in e-mail and how to handle customers or the public.

We need to explain a 40-hour workweek and teach people that if you aren’t on time, you’ll be fired.

Local schools do bits and pieces of the job-training curriculum, but it’s time to take it a step further.

Creating a new class and curriculum for this school year is probably not possible, especially for the public schools that have to meet state guidelines, but the Miss-Lou doesn’t have time to waste.

Area business leaders through the three local chambers of commerce can and should quickly create a series of job-training workshops and take their shows on the road to all local schools.

With the permission and cooperation of the schools — Copiah-Lincoln and Alcorn State as well — our community can begin making a difference with the current classes of students, instead of waiting for the state curriculum to catch up with our needs.

It’s easy to say that basic on-the-job skills are best taught at home. They are. But our community must admit that oftentimes, these skills aren’t being taught at home.

We see the problem. We’ve identified it, now it’s time to start working on the solution.

After all, whether the sign says it or not, “Welcome to Natchez” should mean, “How can we help you.”

Julie Cooper is the managing editor of The Natchez Democrat. She can be reached at 601-445-3551 or julie.cooper@natchezdemocrat.com.