Senators say money at heart of whistleblower dispute was intended for Fargo center

Jan. 31—FARGO — Members of Congress who were instrumental in establishing the federal Rural Export Center in Fargo say a $1 million boost in federal funding for rural export efforts was meant for the Fargo center.

Comments from U.S. Sens. Kevin Cramer, John Hoeven and Amy Klobuchar echo assertions made by Rural Export Center Director Heather Ranck,

who is facing an effort to remove her from her job

after she raised concerns about how the additional dollars are being spent.

Asked if it was their understanding that the additional $1 million was intended to go to the Fargo operation, Cramer and Hoeven, both Republicans from North Dakota, were direct in their answers.

"Yes, That was the expectation," Cramer said.

Hoeven said that at the time the additional money was approved, "We anticipated that the funding would go to the REC in Fargo, but the final language for the program did not limit the funding."

A spokesperson for Klobuchar, D-Minn., said Klobuchar has been a longtime champion of rural exports and has worked productively with Ranck for a number of years.

After introducing the original bill creating the Rural Export Center, Klobuchar's office pushed for higher funding levels for the center, Klobuchar's spokesperson said, adding that at the time the additional funding was approved, only the Rural Export Center in Fargo existed.

The funding in question was approved in December 2022, when Congress voted to boost the annual funding for rural export support from $500,000 to $1.5 million.

Ranck provided her immediate supervisor with a proposal for how the additional money could be spent, emphasizing a dozen actions based on the impact they would have on rural exporters.

Ranck maintains, however, that senior officials in the Commerce Department, which oversees the export center, redirected the $1 million to establish seven new rural centers.

The new centers have Commerce Department employees, but according to Ranck, the centers do not have the ability to provide the type of research support that the Rural Export Center in Fargo provides U.S. companies looking to find markets for their products in other countries.

Concerned about how the additional allocated dollars were being directed, in February of 2023, Ranck notified a senior manager at the Commerce Department's International Trade Administration, saying she was concerned the agency could be in trouble if it did not follow Congressional intent regarding the $1 million.

According to Ranck, shortly after she voiced those concerns, she was summoned to a virtual meeting with senior officials with the International Trade Administration, during which Ranck said Joseph Hanley, acting deputy assistant secretary for U.S. field operations and national field director for the International Trade Administration, shouted angrily at her and told her to never bypass the normal chain of command again.

In April 2023 and after the virtual meeting with Hanley, Ranck filed a whistleblower complaint with the Office of Inspector General, alleging patterns of abusive treatment, harassment, retaliation, gross mismanagement and abuse of authority.

Ranck named herself as the person who brought the complaint and she named Hanley as the source of the problems.

Ranck maintains that in June 2023, Hanley made a trip to the Rural Export Center in Fargo, claiming in advance that it was a courtesy visit to catch up on what had been happening at the office.

Instead, Ranck said, Hanley arrived at the center accompanied by an attorney and an armed security guard.

Ranck said she was told she was being placed on a 30-day paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation.

Ranck, who has been on administrative leave ever since, said she was not told the reasons for her leave until early October 2023, when she received a "notice of proposed removal," along with accompanying materials.

That same month, Ranck's attorney, Joe Pekich, of the Pekich Law Firm PLLC, sent federal officials a written response refuting allegations made against Ranck by the Commerce Department's International Trade Administration, which oversees the U.S. Commercial Service, the federal agency for which Ranck directly works.

Ranck said she is accused of three things: being too closely engaged with members of Congress; refusing to follow directives to promote newly created federal jobs in locations elsewhere in the country; and violating rules relating to how personally identifiable information involving people she supervised should be handled.

Ranck maintains there is no truth in the allegations and counters that the action to remove her is retaliation for the whistleblower complaint she filed in April 2023, a complaint that was subsequently dismissed without any negative consequences for Hanley, the official Ranck named in her complaint.

After filing a Freedom of Information Act request, Ranck said she was informed in September 2023 that the reason her complaint was dismissed was because the enabling legislation behind the $1 million in additional funding for rural export support said the money was to go toward rural export centers — plural — and not a specific export center.

After her attorney responded in writing to the notice of proposed removal she received in October, Ranck had a hearing before James Golsen, deputy director general of the International Trade Administration, the U.S. government's primary commercial diplomacy, export and investment promotion agency.

At the time this story was published, Ranck was waiting to see how Golsen would rule on the allegations she faces.

Ranck maintains that because the funding bill language for rural export support wound up using the word "centers" instead of "center," the Office of Inspector General did not investigate any of the other claims contained in her complaint filed in April 2023, which alleged patterns of abusive management and continued attempts at sabotaging the Rural Export Center in Fargo.

When the International Trade Administration of the Department of Commerce was asked for comment regarding Ranck's claims and the disciplinary action against her, a spokesman for the Department of Commerce said the ITA does not comment on personnel matters and added that the allegations in the complaint Ranck filed were investigated and found to be unsubstantiated.

Hoeven said when the North Dakota District Export Council, an organization of experienced export volunteers, notified his office that Ranck had been placed on administrative leave, he and Cramer contacted the Department of Commerce, as well as Marisa Lago, the undersecretary of commerce for the International Trade Administration, for an explanation regarding the issue.

Hoeven said the Department of Commerce would not provide any details, as it involved a personnel issue, but Hoeven said he and Cramer are continuing to work to bring Commerce Department officials to North Dakota to meet with District Export Council members intent on expressing their concerns about the issue.

"We've worked with Heather over many years and believe she has always been very professional and done a great job. We have made clear to Commerce that they need to treat Heather fairly and resolve this issue transparently," Hoeven said.

Cramer went further, stating: "A good public servant is supposed to work closely with other public servants like the mayors, county commissioners, governors, departments of state, chambers of commerce, and Congressional delegations. She (Ranck) is a collaborator, a facilitator, and a leader. If anything, she's guilty of being good at her job."

Cramer added that one of the advantages of living in the Midwest is that people know each other and work in a collaborative manner.

"She (Ranck) would be derelict in her duties if she didn't work with Congressional offices to help advance the agency's mission on behalf of our workers and businesses. It's what I would expect and what she always delivers. She's a great public servant, and it's a shame for her to be in this situation," Cramer said.

In late December, Jay Schuler, current chairman of the North Dakota District Export Council, which also serves a portion of northwest Minnesota, sent a letter supporting Ranck to a number of federal officials, including Lago and Golsen.

More than two dozen individuals with connections to area companies and trade organizations endorsed the letter of support, including Thomas Shorma, former chairman of the North Dakota District Export Council and a long-standing member of the North Dakota Trade Office.

Shorma said many past and current members of the North Dakota District Export Council are on record as stating they will resign their positions and cut their connection with the organization if Ranck is removed from her position.

In early January, Schuler sent a letter to Michael Horowitz, inspector general of the United States, asking him to look into the matter and to put Ranck back to work as director of the Rural Export Center.

Ranck said she has received an overwhelming amount of support, including phone calls and emails, following

The Forum's publication of a story detailing her administrative leave and the whistleblower complaint she filed

before the disciplinary action was launched.

Ranck said more than 200 people have reached out to her to express disbelief and outrage, including 40 current or past employees of the Commerce Department who told her they went through something akin to what she is experiencing.

"Abuse thrives on fear and isolation. I've discovered how liberating truth-telling can be," Ranck said.