Who presents the better value and service to Ely, Dave Kromer or Bill Roloff?

Ely Buzz Blogs; by Mike Hillman 4 March 2011

Just when you thought the buzz about the Ely Area Economic Agency couldn’t get any louder the town fairly vibrated with the news that came out this week about how the agency handled the elusive Project Firefly. Knowing that there are many inventive people working out of area garages and shops, Project Firefly hoped to be the agent that would provide a helping hand to area metal workers who had an invention worthy of further development. In order to help facilitate the project the EADA hired Dave Kromer to work with area metal workers to help conceptualize their projects. As part of his duties Kromer would help make an accurate blue print for the invention, and to build a model of the idea in order to make it more marketable for potential investors. For his services, Dave Kromer was paid fifteen dollars an hour. While fifteen dollars an hour might not be a great deal of money elsewhere, here in Ely, it is considered to be a generous wage.

If this were the extent of the story nobody would be buzzing about anything. The buzz started when the local news reported that when Pat Henderson, the EADA director, left for another position there was a change of command at the agency. Dave Kromer was let go from Firefly and was replaced as the director of Project Firefly by Bill Roloff who served on both the large and small boards of the EADA. No reason was given for letting Dave Kromer go and replacing him with Bill Roloff. The buzz grew much louder when people found out that Mr. Roloff’s hourly rate was sixty five dollars an hour. This was over four times the money that Dave Kromer made to do the same work. Lots of people are buzzing to know just what Mr. Roloff did to earn such a wage in an area where most people would give their eye teeth to have a job paying that much money. This blogger would love to know that at a time when most people are scrambling to make it to the end of the month how the EADA could justify paying Bill Roloff over four times what Dave Kromer earned. It would seem an answer is in order.