GLEN LYN (WSLS10) - This May marks one year since AEP's Glen Lyn plant closed it doors, taking with it hundreds of thousands of tax dollars.
The plant was a huge economic driver for the county and town of Glen Lyn and businesses in the area are feeling the effects the plant's closure.
"Business has slowed down," said Sarah Hall a waitress at Central Restaurant.
Tom Spencer, the mayor of Glen Lyn, said he's tightening his budget.
When the plant was open, Tom Spencer said the town would receive about $275,000 in tax revenue, and now he's only expecting to receive about $75,000.
"We're tightening everywhere we can, as a matter of fact we a have a secretary who will only be working a half day," explained Spencer.
Political leaders are working to revamp Giles County to bring in more money.
Delegate Joseph Yost said the county recently hired a tourism director late in 2014 and in the same year, people spent $26,000,000 in Giles County.
"I think the county has an appreciation of what tourism can do for the locality and broader image of the county" said Cora Gnegy, the tourism director for Giles County.
Gnegy said they have a social media campaign that targets people who live in areas like Washington D.C., Charlottesville and Roanoke to show them what's in Giles County.