NC lottery winner chooses work over rest

Jimmy Kennovin of Garner did what a lot of people do from time to time. He bought a lottery ticket at a Grocery Boy near his Garner home. And to his surprise, he won $100 on a $20 ticket. So he used the winnings to get a couple more tickets.

And one of those tickets was OK. More than OK. Kennovin won $4 million, which he took in a lump sum of $2.4 million with an after taxes gain of $1.7 million.

Most folks who are his age, 50, would take the money and run, understandably so. But Kennovin instead took a good chunk of the proceeds and put it back into his business, Deluxe Home Comfort, a Garner heating and air conditioning company. Business had been good in the boom times up until the housing crisis began in 2008, but Kennovin was until recently down to one employee and grossing $10,000 a month, quite a fall from $200,000 before the recession.

So now he has six employees, and he has hired someone to help with digital advertising and accounting. Business is coming back.

More employees are a likelihood, and even after a couple of hip replacements, Kennovin is intending to keep working as he did before his windfall. He’s out and about getting customers and doing maintenance for his established clients.

“This is my last chance to turn the business around,” he says. It appears the turn has been made, which is good news for current and potentially future employees. Jimmy Kennovin didn’t take the money and run. He stayed put, to the benefit of others and his community.

This story was originally published March 19, 2015 at 6:19 PM with the headline "NC lottery winner chooses work over rest."