Businesses being hit hard by VA shutdown in Muskogee

It's one of the largest Veterans Administration facilities in the country and its all but shut down.

The main building has 800 employees and there are two more just like it with hundreds of more employees.

KRMG is told that 576 of the 1,400 employees at the Muskogee office are currently being furloughed.

Nick Wilks runs the coffee shop across the street and says nearly everyone in town is scared. Wilks says, "Everyone is just kind of worried about it because they're going without pay. Does it mean the bills stop coming? No. The bills keep coming so it scares everybody."

Wilks tells KRMG that his business has taken a hit with fewer customers coming across the street. He only expects it to get worse as the shutdown drags on.