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Quality Inn honored for employing, supporting disabled

Published 1:30 am Thursday, March 12, 2026

By Sequim Gazette staff

Photo courtesy Wirta Hospitality Quality Inn and Suites at Olympic National Park in Sequim received Morningside Services’ 2025 Outstanding Employer Award last week for its support of disabled employees. Pictured, from left, are hotel owner Bret Wirta, hotel General Manager Jahnel King, hotel/Morningside employee Eric Whitney, Vice-President of Hotel Operations Namaste Stayton, and Nicole Sklors, Morningside’s program manager for Clallam County.

Photo courtesy Wirta Hospitality

Quality Inn and Suites at Olympic National Park in Sequim received Morningside Services’ 2025 Outstanding Employer Award last week for its support of disabled employees. Pictured, from left, are hotel owner Bret Wirta, hotel General Manager Jahnel King, hotel/Morningside employee Eric Whitney, Vice-President of Hotel Operations Namaste Stayton, and Nicole Sklors, Morningside’s program manager for Clallam County.

Quality Inn and Suites at Olympic National Park, 134 River Road in Sequim, was recently recognized by Morningside Services for its continued support of an employee with a disability.

Jonathan Pleger, president and CEO of Morningside, presented the hotel’s General Manager Jahnel King with the 2025 Outstanding Employer Award on March 4.

“This award is very special to us because of our relationship with the program and the individuals we have employed,” said Bret Wirta of Wirta Hospitality, the hotel’s owner.

Morningside, a public benefit corporation, helps individuals with disabilities find and maintain employment in Washington.

Eric Whitney has been with Quality Inn and Morningside for eight years as of April. He works in the hotel’s Breakfast Bar and faces the daily challenges that anyone who works in that department would.

“He is a pleasure to work with, he is always positive and enjoys being here,” King said.

Crystal Runningwolf, a longtime employee of the hotel and the breakfast ambassador until her recent retirement, was Whitney’s supervisor. The two of them worked together nearly all of his time in that department.

Runningwolf was also recognized by Morningside for playing such a large role in Whitney’s success.

King, who joined Wirta Hospitality as general manager of Quality Inn in mid-May 2024, has worked alongside Whitney since she started.

“Quality Inn was and has always been my favorite place to coach because there is such a welcoming energy and team mentality,” said Nicole Sklors, Morningside’s program manager for Clallam County.

“Quality Inn is a strong supporter of inclusion and it shows in Eric’s success.”

Quality Inn has had a strong partnership with Morningside since 2015, when its previous manager Nancy Merrigan began working with their team.

In 2020, Merrigan was honored by the Washington Governor’s Committee on Disability Issues and Employment. She received the Employer of the Year Award, presented to her by former Washington State Governor Jay Inslee in Olympia.

“We are proud of what we have accomplished over the last decade,” Wirta said.

For more information about Quality Inn and Suites at Olympic National Park, call 360-683-2800, or visit choicehotels.com/washington/sequim/quality-inn-hotels/wa151.

For more about Morningside, visit morningsideservices.com.

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