Newark  - It was an obscure, almost throw-away paragraph at the end of a recent newspaper article: "Busloads of Fort Monmouth [N.J.] workers are scheduled to visit Newark for a tour of the city June 6."

That would be Newark as in Delaware, not New Jersey, and the folks from Fort Monmouth are looking for places to live.

For many, the days a couple years ago when the Base Realignment and Closure Program made its decision about Fort Monmouth seem like ancient history. But that ancient history is now coming alive in the present with an estimated 8,000 new residents expected to be stationed at nearby Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Harford County, Md., by 2011. That's just a little over two years away and there's lots that needs doing if Delaware expects to benefit from the thousands of $80,000-a-year-plus jobs that a will be moving from New Jersey to this area.

Delaware officials, along with Rep. Mike Castle, recently toured the 72,000-acre military base along the Chesapeake Bay in hopes the state will benefit from the new influx of scientists, computer programmers, telecommunications experts and other high-tech positions.

Besides the 8,000 positions that will be transferred to Harford County, another 16,000 private-sector jobs are expected to be created in a variety of supporting industries relating to the proving grounds expansion.

New Castle County officials are trying to develop ways to lure the new workers to the Newark area, which is only a 25-minute or so drive to Aberdeen.

The good thing at this point is there are still two years to go and local and federal officials here don't want to lose out.

Now it's a matter of everyone keeping their eye on the ball and focusing on the new regional future to come.