I meet a lot of people who are new to Hawke’s Bay and enthusiastic about what they find. Fewer arrive with a decade in global technology and time on the ground in Silicon Valley to give that enthusiasm some weight. Tom Fox is Californian, and he brought that perspective with him when he joined Fingermark nine months ago as President, taking on the CE role from founder Luke Irving at one of our region’s most successful global technology companies. He reached out early, asked good questions, and said things worth hearing. I’ll let him speak.
Damon Harvey, Editor
OP-ED by Tom Fox – CE of Fingermark
The first thing I noticed about Hawke’s Bay is that people look you in the eye. Not in a performative way, but in the unhurried way of a place where reputation matters. This place is genuinely world-class. I’ve heard “punching above its weight” a lot since arriving, but that phrase feels like a safety net. Companies here compete globally on quality, on craft, and on relationship. Hawke’s Bay has the bones of a prosperous region.
I want to write about prosperity, because I think it’s a word used carelessly. Prosperity isn’t the same as growth, and it isn’t the same as wealth. Prosperity is the condition where the work you do funds an abundant life, and where the next generation has the same opportunity. The Kiwi instinct to protect quality of life, family, the land and coast, the right to stop working at a reasonable hour, is not a weakness. It is one of the most valuable things this country has, and one of the hardest to restore once it’s gone.
So why do so many feel like there’s a ceiling?
Here’s what I’ve observed, with the caveat that I’m new and certainly missing things. The ceiling isn’t a lack of capability. It isn’t a lack of ideas. It’s pace.
Today we’re not competing with each other. A vineyard in Havelock North competes with one in Bordeaux. A tech company in Hastings competes with one in Silicon Valley. A food producer in Napier competes with one in Chile. Your real competition is a team in Austin or Bangalore or Tel Aviv that raised three times the capital and doesn’t stop for Christmas. They decide, ship, and fail faster, and they’re rewarded for failing because the next attempt comes quickly. They move at a speed that can feel reckless from here.
They are, at this moment, indifferent to the fact that you have a good story and a beautiful place to tell it from.
I’ve lived in and around that pace. Honestly, it has real costs. Health frays. Marriages strain. Kids grow up. People I respect have paid prices I wouldn’t wish on anyone. The Kiwi instinct to protect quality of life is a hard-won wisdom that the rest of the world is slowly, painfully relearning.
The accelerated world is coming whether we increase our pace or not. The question is whether we can build a culture of prosperity that takes the best of what they do: speed of decision, willingness to invest in growth, comfort with ambition. And pairs it with what we already do better than they ever will: trust, craft, long horizons, and a life worth coming home to. Done well, this retains talent and attracts capital. It’s possible.
I’m aware I’ve only just arrived. I plan to earn my place here by participating, hiring locally, and showing up when it matters. I hope to be one of the people who builds rather than visits.
I don’t have a programme. I have a willingness to help, an interest in listening, and a strong belief that this region’s best chapter is ahead. I look forward to being part of the conversation.
Tom Fox is chief executive of Fingermark, a Hawke’s Bay-headquartered technology company serving global restaurant brands. He divides his time between Hawke’s Bay and California. If you’re building something here and want to talk, he’d genuinely like to hear from you at tom.fox@fingermarkglobal.com or linkedin.com/in/tomfox
