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As a part of the observance of National Telecommunicators Week, the Blount County Communications Center named Donna Burnette the Blount County Telecommunicator of the Year.

One of five communications center employees who had perfect attendance last year, Burnette, who is the night-shift supervisor, has been with the center for 18 years, director Jeff Caylor said. She is a natural leader, Caylor said Wednesday at the ceremony, and her presence in the 9-1-1 center makes everything move more smoothly.

"More than anything, just her leadership" was what set her apart, Caylor said. "As much as anything, it's her ability, obviously, and her presence in the dispatch center.

"When you've got a really good role model up there that's doing everything right ... that's a huge advantage."

In a past evaluation, Caylor said he summed up his thoughts about Burnette. "In that evaluation, I said I wish we had 10 just like her," he said.

Burnette said being named Blount County Telecommunicator of the Year was completely unexpected and that she is thrilled about the recognition.

"Oh, it's a real honor," she said. "Anybody that could manage to get an award like that, it's great, it's wonderful."

Burnette went on to thank her supervisors, who, she said, make the 9-1-1 center a great place to work.

"They're very good about being the type of people who focus on their employees," she said. "They've made a real effort to make us want to do well in our profession."

Burnette said one of the main reasons she enjoys working at the 9-1-1 center is the diverse kinds of calls they receive, and the fact that what they do there is help the people of Blount County.

"We have such a diverse amount of calls that come in," she said. "It can be anything from helping a dog stuck in a sewer somewhere ... to handling a domestic (case) ... and when you come in you never know what kind of night it's going to be.

"You just never know what might happen."

Along with the Telecommunicator of the Year award, Caylor said the communications center gave a Length of Service award to Tracy Smock and Perfect Attendance awards to Matt Graves, Burnette, David Nelson, Richee Kidd and Eric Lawson. Scott Gregory and Ja'Nett Brabson also received QAQI awards for following procedure to the letter on 98 percent of law enforcement calls. And Heather Murphy received a QAQI award for following procedure on 98 percent of law enforcement and medical calls.

The Blount County Communications Center answered 262,000 calls in 2007, Caylor said and the average time it took dispatchers to pick up calls was 7.5 seconds.