Kentucky

Employees at Kentucky business split 6-figure Powerball winnings

A group of employees in Bourbon County pooled their money earlier this year to play the Powerball, raking in a $200,000 win.

According to a Kentucky Lottery news release, eight employees at Avantor Performance Materials in Paris carpooled to Kentucky Lottery headquarters with the winning ticket from the game’s Jan. 17 drawing.

Avantor Performance Materials is a life sciences tools company that provides products and services to the life sciences and advanced technology industries, according to its website. Some of its most popular products include micropipettes, vials, gloves and garments.

According to the Kentucky Lottery, the group has been playing together for about four years. The win came as a shock to many in the pool.

“I thought I was going to have a heart attack,” one winner told the Kentucky Lottery.

“I cried, and I mean crying ugly,” another said.

The winning ticket had the optional add-on Power Play feature, which for $1 multiplied the group’s winnings four fold. As a result, each player took home more than $18,000 after taxes, the lottery said.

They said they plan to use their winnings to pay bills.

According to the lottery’s release, the group joins several other workplace pool wins the Kentucky Lottery has seen in the last two years, including:

  • A group of 30 current and former staff members from R.A. Jones Middle School in Florence. The group won $1 million playing the Powerball in its Jan. 27, 2024, drawing.
  • In March 2025, 17 employees from the Barton 1792 Distillery in Bardstown won $50,000 playing the Powerball.
  • A group of employees at TG Kentucky in Lebanon won a $50,000 Powerball prize in December 2025.

Do you have a question about the lottery in Kentucky for the Herald-Leader? We’d like to hear from you. Fill out our Know Your Kentucky form or email ask@herald-leader.com.

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Aaron Mudd
Lexington Herald-Leader
Aaron Mudd was a service journalism reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader, Centre Daily Times and Belleville News-Democrat. He was based at the Herald-Leader in Lexington, and left the paper in February 2026. Support my work with a digital subscription
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