Rod Peevy might know everyone on the Island.

“Everybody always asks me how I know so many people,” says Rod, who works as marketing director for the Caribe in addition to being involved in development, technology and politics. “Well, I ran the airport (in Gulf Shores) at night after I got out of school, starting when I was 16.”

Rod, also known around town as “Rod-Bud,” (his father is also named Rod, so he was called Bud most of his life) grew up in Foley and remembers the island before it was developed. He got to know many of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach's future leaders while he worked at the airport, which was then just a small runway and a tiny shack.

“Everybody who was involved in building the area was coming in and out of the airport,” he says. “And we didn't have a big taxi service, so we were allowed to use the airport's 12-passenger van, and at night we carried people from entertainment center to entertainment center.”

Rod remembers when the only places to find food and entertainment on the island were Shirley & Wayne's, the Pink Pony Pub, the old Margaritaville and the Gulf Gate Lodge.

“At the Gulf Gate Lodge on Sundays, it would get crowded and you had to sing for a table,” Peevy says. “That was long before karaoke came out, but they'd make you get up and sing with the band.”

He also remembers the beach before the arrival of condominiums and tourists.

“We had trailer homes all over the beach front,” Rod says. “Where Seaside Beach and the Raquet Club is now, that was a trailer park. And the homes then just weren't that big. Everything stayed up until '79 (Hurricane Frederic), and a lot of people didn't have insurance because a storm like that had never hit before. Because I'm involved in development, it's funny to look back on that.”

After high school graduation, Peevy attended college in Houston and then interned with a federal judge in Washington, D.C., who was also in the hotel business.

“So I got in the hotel business side of it and helped him open up hotels,” Peevy says. “When I came back here and got into the condo development and rental business, I realized that Larry Wireman (owner of the Caribe and other condominiums and restaurants) was the pinnacle of doing it right and building the best. So I decided to go with Larry and took over his marketing and helped him build his rental company.”

Anthony Kaiser, Century-21 Meyer Real Estate's CEO, says Peevy has been an asset to the island's business community because of his broad skill set.

“Rod is a very diverse individual,” Kaiser says. “He's kind of become a self-made person, and people look to him for information and advice, even in the political arena. He's just a good guy and very helpful. He's always willing to step in and make a difference somewhere.”

Peevy says working on the island is different than anywhere else in the country because of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach's small town roots.

“There have been a team of companies founding this area, and we've done it as a team, together,” Peevy says. “We have to be accountable to somebody. In our business on the island, we're accountable to everyone, because it's a small community. If it's not right, locals are more than happy to tell you you did something wrong.”