The Penn State Workforce Education & Development Initiative released on 25 January 2008 a report by Rose M. Baker and David L. Passmore about the impact of the closing of the Willow Grove Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base. The abstract of the 22-page report, Population, & Employment Consequences of the Closing of the Willow Grove Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base:

The Willow Grove Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, is scheduled to close by 2010. The Base closing is anticipated to have broad effects on the economy, population, and labor market of Montgomery County. This report contains a forecast of the potential impacts of the Base closing on the economy, population, and workforce of Montgomery County and on assessing a variety of industrial development opportunities afforded Montgomery County by use of the surplus land that becomes available after the property is transferred from the U.S. Department of Defense to its new owners. A team of researchers from Penn State’s Workforce Education and Development Initiative applied state–of–the–art information, forecasting, and modeling tools to assess the economic, population, and workforce impact of losses of jobs, spending, and reservists’ visits as a result of the Base closing. In brief, the closing of the Willow Grove Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base is forecasted to have a minimal effect on the economy, population, and workforce of Montgomery County. At the same time, development opportunities exist for use of surplus Base land. These findings imply that targeting additional workforce development efforts to mitigate the impact of the Base closing beyond those already available through PA CareerLink might not yield substantial additional benefits for the economy of Montgomery County and for the well–being of its workers and employers.