Joe Iannone's company, JVI Construction, has helped build Apex, but Iannone is better known for his cooking at Rotary Club events, soft heart for charitable causes and willingness to help friends in need. At the Apex Chamber of Commerce annual awards ceremony on Oct. 13, Iannone was named Apex Citizen of the Year.

When Iannone was 3 years old, he and his three siblings moved with their parents from New York to Raleigh. His father passed away when Iannone was only 11. Ever since, Iannone has worked hard, from delivering newspapers to framing houses. He moved to Apex in 1991 and started developing the town in 1993, including The Groves, Haddon Place, Bella Casa, Salem Town Offices, Liberty Station and Duncan Commons.

Today, he has a reputation as a tough boss who is not allowed to answer the phone. He tends to give to charitable organizations across the Triangle, but his biggest causes are Western Wake Crisis Ministries and Children's Flight of Hope.

Q: Where did the drive to help others originate?

A: Ever since I was 12 years old, I've always been a helper, often helping the neighborhood dads when they were gardening or mowing yards. I've just always felt the need to be productive. I don't sit and watch football. I like to be doing something.

Q: But you do more than construct buildings. Do you enjoy all the cooking you do for causes?

A: I love it. I give a lot of time to the Apex Rotary Club, cooking at events. We cook for several hundred people and even have a concession trailer. We do pancakes, sausage and bacon for 800 to 1200 people when it's the Christmas Parade weekend or Peak Week.

At the Kyle Byrd Memorial Charity Car Show, we cook for 200 to 300 people and do baby back ribs, hot dogs, hamburgers and chicken.

I also do a lot of cooking at home. Whether we're at the mountains, beach or here in Apex, we have an outside kitchen that we use all the time.

Q: Why do you feel it's so important to give your time and money to help others?

A: I have been very blessed, very fortunate, to live in a strong economy compared to the rest of the world.

I probably get no less than 30 solicitations for money each week, from helping the blind to heart to cancer. I try to give, whether it's to the Catholic Diocese (because my mom is Catholic), Apex Baptist Church, Western Wake Crisis or Children's Flight of Hope.

Q: What about your developments around Apex? How have you continued to be so successful?

A: I have built some really good relationships with the Town staff. They trust me, because if I say I will deliver a good project, they believe me. I try to make every project a little better than the last one. I try to incorporate what the Town wants to see in the downtown. I have probably put 90 percent of my efforts in Apex.

Q: What are your goals for the next five years?

A: I want to complete my existing projects, like Bella Casa and The Groves, and start and finish two other new projects. Then I want to try to slow down and retire.

Unfortunately, this economy has hurt people, us as well, and I want to keep a little something going. We have managed not to lay anyone off.

But [back at the height of the strong economy] we were all working so hard for six to eight years. Everyone felt overwhelmed. Now, we're steady. It's enough to keep everyone busy without being too much.

I'm grateful for everything - that I'm still in business, that I still get up every day and have something to do.