AVB Scholarship Winner Hannah Uutela Proudly Represents North Coast Appliance

The Uutela family in their North Coast Appliance showroom

Plans to turn her healthful pursuits into a profession

By Andy Kriege, YSN

One of the high points of Summit 2022 was the announcement of this year’s AVB/BrandSource Scholarship Award winners.

As part of a longstanding effort to support higher education, the group bestows $10,000 in academic achievement awards annually. The goal of these scholarships is to provide financial assistance to the families of BrandSource members to help offset higher education expenses.

Among this year’s four winners was Hannah Uutela. Hannah is the daughter of Josh and Jessica Uutela, owners of North Coast Appliance in McKinleyville, Calif. Hannah is currently a senior at Union High School in nearby Fortuna and plans to enroll at San Diego State University this fall to major in nutrition. She chose the field because of her passion for living a healthy lifestyle.

After graduating college, Hannah aspires to become a registered dietitian, with the hope of inspiring others to make healthier choices and live happier lives through diet.

While Hannah is not in school, Hannah lives out her passion by keeping active. Her favorite activities include exercising, weightlifting and volleyball, as well as snowboarding and surfing —and the Californian loves the fact that she lives where she can do both in the same day!

Hannah is also passionate about giving back to her community and keeping it green and clean. She participates in weekly beautification projects including lending a hand with weekly trash cleanups with the local PacOut Green Team.

She is thankful for her parents’ help along on her academic journey, by keeping her motivated and determined while offering their unconditional love and support.

AVB scholarship winner Hannah Uutela

Hannah also gave a big shout-out to BrandSource, stating, “Thank you so much for not only awarding me this scholarship and helping me pursue my dreams, but also for providing endless help and opportunities for my family and their business. You guys are awesome!”

Hannah was among four winners chosen from dozens of submissions, with each receiving $2,500 toward fall enrollment.

The candidates were judged on their academic merit (including their GPA and extracurricular activities); their community involvement; a written essay; and additional criteria including their responses to follow-up questions and the overall presentation of their submissions.

The review of this year’s scholarship applicants has given this writer great faith in the next generation of leaders including Hannah. She is a shining example of how our members do such a fantastic job instilling the same values in their kids that have made them successful in business. It turns out that hard work, discipline and resilience not only make for great retailers but for high-achieving students as well.

Congratulations Hannah Uutela!

BrandSource, a unit of YSN publisher AVB Inc., is a nationwide buying group for independent appliance, mattress, furniture and CE dealers.

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