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O-M graduate earns Iowa’s Best Burger honor
unemployment rate
Economy adds 288,000 jobs in April WASHINGTON (MCT) — Hiring surprisingly surged last month as the economy added 288,000 net new jobs — the best performance in more than two years — and the unemployment rate dropped to 6.3 percent, its lowest level since September 2008, the Labor Department said Friday. Job-creation figures for February and March were also revised upward by a combined 36,000, meaning the economy has added a monthly average of about 214,000 positions this year. The revised figure for March was 203,000. Economists had expected a more modest pickup, with the economy adding 215,000 net new jobs in April and the unemployment rate dropping just a tenth of a percentage point to 6.6 percent. The last time the economy added more jobs than last month was in January 2012. Job growth slowed during the winter as unusually harsh weather took a toll on the economy. The Commerce Department said this week that the economy expanded at just a 0.1 percent annual rate in the first three months of the year. Some of April’s large jobs growth was the labor market catching up from the winter slowdown, said Bart van Ark, chief economist at the Conference Board. “But that is only one part of the story,” he said. “Indeed, the more important part is that the economy has been gathering strength for some time. “ He predicted continued strong job growth through the spring and maybe into the summer. The private sector added 273,000 net new jobs in April and government added 15,000. The large drop in the unemployment rate — to 6.3 percent in April from 6.7 percent the previous month — came in part because of people dropping out of the workforce. The labor force participation rate fell to 62.8 percent, from 63.2 percent in March, after
Mikkelsen Contributed photo
Brick City Grill — owned by Orient-Macksburg graduate Jason Mikkelsen — was honored Thursday for having the best burger in the state of Iowa. Past winners include 61 Chop House Grille in Mediapolis (2013), Coon Bowl III in Coon Rapids (2012), Rusty Duck in Dexter (2011) and Sac County Cattle Company of Sac City (2010).
Top 10 finalist Elm’s Club reports contest recognition again brings in more business ■
By JAKE WADDINGHAM
CNA associate editor jwaddingham@crestonnews.com
AMES — For the past two weeks, Brick City Grill owner Jason Mikkelsen has been under strict instructions to not reveal his hamburger was crowned Iowa’s Best Burger for 2014. And he was able to keep it a secret, for the most part. “I told my wife, but that was it,” Mikkelsen laughed. This is the fifth year of competition for Iowa’s Best Burger, sponsored by Iowa Cattlemen’s Association and the Iowa Beef Industry Council. Iowans submitted more than 9,600 votes for 456 restaurants to select the 10 finalists. “I was shocked, I did not
expect to win,” Mikkelsen said. “I was happy just to be nominated, especially since we haven’t even been open a year yet.” This is the first time Brick City Grill has entered Iowa’s Best Burger Contest. The restaurant — 2704 Stange Road in Ames — will celebrate its one-year anniversary May 13. “It took a good day to completely set in,” Mikkelsen said. “I just want to ride this wave as long as I can for all it is worth.” A 1996 Orient-Macksburg graduate, Mikkelsen has 18 years of experience in the restaurant business. Mikkelsen is the son of Rita and Reg Mikkelsen of rural Creston. Brick City Grill has eight hamburgers on the menu made from a proprietary chuck blend that is delivered fresh to the restaurant each morning at 6 a.m. It is handpattied and cooked on a flattop grill. The only seasoning added is salt and pepper.
“I have a new burger that I am working on,” Mikkelsen said. “I am hoping to unveil it here in about a month. For now, I guess it just has to stay a mystery.” Hours at Brick City Grill in Ames are 11 a.m. to midnight Sunday through Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Elm’s Club The contest does not rank the entire top 10, it just names a winner from the 10 finalist. Making the final cut for the second straight year was Elm’s Club, 108 N. Elm St. in Creston. “It didn’t s u r p r i s e King me,” Elm’s Club co-owner Donna King said. “It looks like he has a great place and I talked with a couple people that said they really enjoyed their burger. I am thrilled to death for them and I can’t wait to
go try one myself.” Elm’s Club recently made two additions to their menu — barbecue bacon burger and bacon blue cheese burger on rye bread. “We have a lot of repeat business, so this will be something new for them,” King said. “We thank our customers for supporting us and we are just glad to be nominated.” King said the recognition of making the top 10 for Iowa’s Best Burger helps bring in a lot of business. The contest has created a group called “foodies” that travel the state trying all of the finalist’s burgers. Once an establishment wins the title of Iowa’s Best Burger, it is removed from the list of possible candidates. Elm’s Club will be going for its third top 10 finish next year. “We will keep cooking and will just have to wait and see what happens,” King said. “It is fun just to be recognized and get the publicity.”
Please see ECONOMY, Page 2
‘Hallelujah Girls’ play slated May 9-11 Tickets for this play at SWCC Performing Arts Center are $8 at the door. ■
This coming Mother’s Day weekend, Crest Area Theatre (CAT) will hold their production of “The Hallelujah Girls” — a two-act comedy about a group of feisty females from Eden Falls, Ga., who have decided to live their lives to the fullest. Performance are May 9, 10 and 11 at Southwestern Community College Performing Arts Center (same building as the YMCA) in Creston. Curtain is 7 p.m.
on Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are are $8 at the door. For questions, contact crestareatheatre.wordpress. com. The cast for this play includes: Carlene Travis (Jean Sheridan), Nita Mooney (Laural Griswold), Mavis Flowers (Judy Gile), Crystal Hart (Linda Huffman), Sugar Lee Thompkins (Cathy Whited), Bunny Sutherland (Julie Weisshaar), Bobby Dwayne Dillahunt (Rod Tostenson) and Porter Padgett (Wes Ray). Creston News Advertiser will have a full story on this play in next week’s paper.
CNA photo by SCOTT VICKER
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