County policy could shape base growth benefits

Harford County?s actions over the next few years could help the region gain from military growth ? or make traffic and sprawl worse as residents spread out, according to an economic analyst studying the region.

While state-sponsored studies have predicted more than 45,000 new jobs in Maryland and 12,700 in Harford as the result of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission changes, the county has commissioned Anirban Basu and Sage Policy Group to do a study that will predict which municipalities will receive those workers and how the county can promote or discourage that settlement, said Karen Emery, BRAC coordinator for Harford County.