North State entrepreneur makes video finals

Sept. 30--REDDING, California -- In about two weeks, John Hutchings will find out whether he will be on national TV next spring.

Hutchings, co-founder of Fall River Brewing Company, is one of 10 finalists for Mutual of Omaha's Aha Moment TV commercial.

The insurance company announced the final 10 videos Monday.

The champion video will be crowned through a combination of Mutual of Omaha judges and online voting at http://www.ahamoment.com/vote. Voting started Monday and will run through Oct. 10. The winning video will be announced Oct. 14.

"We are just excited and kind of shocked, but it's cool," Hutchings said. "It has given us some publicity and some recognition, so that is awesome. It's an interesting way to get our story out and how we came about."

The videos were shot during Mutual of Omaha's 20-city Aha Moment Tour, which started in Redding in May and ended in Bend, Oregon, in August.

The nine other finalists' videos came from Flagstaff, Arizona; Lubbock, Texas; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Fayetteville, Arkansas; Albany, Georgia; Scranton, Pennsylvania; Grand Forks, North Dakota; Casper, Wyoming; and Walla Walla, Washington.

Hutchings' video was among nearly 1,000 Mutual of Omaha recorded during the tour.

A panel of judges from Mutual of Omaha picked the 10 finalists.

Hutchings said winning the contest would be amazing.

"That would be pretty humbling and awesome, especially given the fact we are such a tiny company in the middle of nowhere and to be able to get out our story and how it got started would be really cool."

Fall River Brewing Company was established in Fall River Mills in eastern Shasta County. The brewery is in Burney. The company started out of Hutchings' garage and today is a 3,000-barrel per year business with a tap room in Redding in the Cypress Pointe shopping center at Churn Creek Road and Cypress Avenue.

In his video, Hutchings talks about his dream to turn a hobby into a commercial brewery.

To see Hutchings' video and the other videos shot in Redding, go to http://www.ahamoment.com/moments/10361.

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