Travis Archible of Smithfield hopes his $1 million prize will allow him to invest in himself, his business and his future.

“I was on my lunch break and I was pressed for time like always,” he recalled. “I went to get something to eat and I stopped but they didn’t have that particular ticket in the machine, so I thought, ‘I’ll just zip into that little store down the road on the way back to work.’”

Archible purchased his $30 Millionaire Maker ticket from the Variety Pic-Up on N.C. 97 in Wendell.

“Got back to work and scratched it and saw the prize,” he said. “I was so excited.”

Archible, who works as a forklift operator, claimed his prize Friday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh.

He had the option of taking the $1 million as an annuity of $50,000 a year over 20 years, or a lump sum of $600,000. Archible chose the annuity and, after state and federal tax withholdings, walked away with his first payment of $35,384.

“After I scratched it, it was awesome,” he said. “I’m going to get that business running to where I can eventually stop working for somebody else and work for myself.”

Millionaire Maker is the first scratch-off to offer 30 $1 million prizes. Archible became the second person to win one of those $1 million prizes.

Ticket sales from scratch-offs like Millionaire Maker make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $725 million a year for education. For details on how $13.9 million raised by the lottery made a difference in Johnston County last year, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.