Jeff Humphrey, Media Content Coordinator, 509.625.6308
Tuesday, May 21, 2019 at 2:20 p.m.
Students come from all over the world to attend Spokane’s growing list of colleges and universities. Sinéad Voorhees is one of them.
“My family is from Dublin, Ireland and I decided I wanted to go to school at Gonzaga University in Spokane,” Voorhees said.
Voorhees came to Spokane looking for an education but also found a lifestyle that balances business with the better things in life.
“Cost of living is so much more manageable. My dollar, my purchasing power is so much stronger here in Spokane. Oh my gosh, I can get downtown but I don’t have to wait in traffic for 45 minutes,” Voorhees said of Spokane’s quality of life attributes.
Voorhees graduated from Gonzaga with a degree in public relations but instead of packing up and moving back to her native Ireland, Voorhees decided to settle here in Spokane.
“You, all of a sudden, have a foodie industry where we have restaurants and this cool downtown culture. We have very dynamic, engaging, large scale businesses coming in offering more opportunity for college graduates to stay,” gushed Voorhees.
Voorhees went to work for Whitworth University where she is now the Director of Graduate Studies in Business.
“People don’t get a Whitworth MBA to leave Spokane, in fact the opposite. People get a Whitworth MBA in order to stay in Spokane because they like it here,” Voorhees asserted.
One of those people is Jeff Watson. When Watson gave up flying for Fairchild, as a KC-135 boom operator, Voorhees helped him launch a new career in business.
“Once I left Fairchild, I was fortunate enough to meet Sinead and she was actually the key to my success here in Spokane. So I got a great job. I’m now at Numerica Credit Union, all thanks to Sinead,” Watson said.
That’s one reason why “Spokane - Coeur d’Alene Magazine” named Voorhees one of the top 20 women in business leadership.
Now Voorhees and her husband Mark are nailing down their future in Spokane by building a new home.
“Where you can gain the support of an entire city to make your dreams come true. And quite frankly, when you look at all that together in one place, the question is, why not Spokane,” Voorhees asked.
