FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                         CONTACT:
September 7, 2018                                                                                                       Chris Cargill  (509) 570-2384

SPOKANE – The 17^th United States Secretary for Housing and Urban Development, Benjamin S. Carson, Sr., M.D., will keynote Washington Policy Center’s 2018 Eastern Washington Annual Dinner October 24^th at the Davenport Grand Hotel in Spokane.
 
Secretary Carson’s arrival in Spokane is coming on the heels of the city being named as the site for the region’s first HUD “EnVision Center” – a visionary new HUD program designed by Dr. Carson himself, aimed at empowering people to climb the ladders of opportunity and leave HUD-assisted housing by becoming self-sufficient.
 
“As a neurosurgeon, Dr. Carson had a long and distinguished career that inspired millions of Americans and Eastern Washingtonians,” explained WPC Eastern Washington Director Chris Cargill. “He continues to inspire now as the head of HUD, and we are thrilled to have him join us at our Annual Dinner this fall.”
 
Secretary Carson will headline the WPC Eastern Washington Annual Dinner, which will also feature former vice-presidential nominee and Senator, Joseph Lieberman. The event is October 24^th at 7:00pm at the Davenport Grand Hotel. Tickets are available on washingtonpolicy.org/events.
 
WPC’s Annual Dinner is one of the largest events of its kind in the region, regularly attracting more than 1,000 citizens, business owners, elected officials and community leaders from across the state.
 
Current Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who was honored at WPC’s Annual Dinner in Spokane in 2016, remarked “we need Washington Policy Center, we need think tanks to calmly look at things and bring forward good ideas.”
 
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, who spoke at WPC’s Annual Dinner in Bellevue in 2017, said “state-based centers like [WPC] are important in shaping policy because you have great ideas and you fight for them.”
 
Washington Policy Center focuses on eight key research areas: Agriculture, Education, Environment, Government Reform, Health Care, Small Business, Transportation and Worker Rights. Ideas from WPC’s research centers are regularly implemented by voters and the legislature and are in the media, on average, seven times a day in Washington state.

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