Franchise Pioneer H&R Block Awards Franchisees National Honors
November 07 2017 - 1:00PM
Four franchisees stood out from nearly 1,500 franchisees and won
recognition from H&R Block (NYSE:HRB), a global consumer tax
services provider that virtually created the franchise model in
1956. Winning in four separate categories, the Featured Franchisees
of the Year Tony Temple, Melissa Gourgues, Tim Targett and Craig
Couch are part of more than 60 years of tradition of H&R Block.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/47ac22d7-a653-4a13-9aac-a7f83b7c0ce8
Winners were selected from among the top 100 franchisees who led
business results and qualitative factors, including community
involvement. In addition to leading top-performing franchises, a
demonstrated commitment to H&R Block’s core value to do the
right thing made up half the selection criteria.
“All of our Featured Franchisees of the Year exemplify H&R
Block’s ‘called to serve’ spirit,” said Kip Knight, senior vice
president of U.S. franchise operations at H&R Block. “Not only
do the winners operate tax offices that serve our clients well,
they also are active participants in their communities. They all
live by H&R Block’s pledge to support the communities we live,
work and play in.”
Featured Franchisees of the Year award winners include
- Craig Couch of Burleson, Texas won this year’s rookie category.
He became an H&R Block franchise to grow his tax business and
provide a framework for his team. Couch is a key contributor
to the annual Diamonds & Dice Ball benefiting the Chisholm
Trail 100 Club, which provides support for Johnson and Somerville
counties first responders. He has also served on the Burleson Area
Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors for the past four for years
and is currently chairman of the board. His office also sponsors
more than eight community organizations ranging from Meals on
Wheels to Aiming for Friendship.
- Tony Temple from Kingsley, Michigan won in the category of one
or two offices. Temple and his staff of tax preparers filed more
tax returns than any other H&R Block office last tax season.
The office completed more than 13,000 returns in the fiscal year,
making it the busiest H&R Block office in the world for tax
season 2017. His office used Best of Both, an H&R Block product
giving do-it-yourself clients the opportunity to have a tax
professional review their tax return remotely before submitting it
to the IRS – with no office visit required – to serve clients
across the globe. Temple is a senior tax analyst and serves as
school board president and as board treasurer for the Rock of
Kingsley, a youth organization. He has been an H&R Block
franchisee since 2005 and serves as vice chair of H&R Block’s
Franchise Leadership Council, an elected representative group of
small business owners from across the country who serve as liaisons
between the 1,462 H&R Block franchisees and corporate
leadership. Temple matches his staff’s fundraising efforts and this
year donated an additional $5,000 to St. Baldrick’s
Foundation.
- Melissa Gourgues, enrolled agent and master tax advisor from
Mandeville, Louisiana, was selected in the category of three to
seven offices. Gourgues has been a franchisee since 2015 after
purchasing the franchise her father started in 1985. She is the
Monteleone Junior High president and treasurer for the Mandeville
Middle PTA. She believes it is important to be the voice for
children and advocate for their needs. She is also a member of the
Professional Women of St. Tammany, a committee member of both Boy
Scouts and Girl Scouts of America and a sponsor of the Ian
Somerhalder Foundation.
- Tim Targett of Brattleboro, Vermont was
named the featured franchisee in the eight or more offices
category. Targett, a senior tax advisor, has been a franchisee for
20 years and purchased his first office with his father. He also
has his family’s third generation working in the tax office. He’s
kept a keen eye on customer service and building relationships that
last a lifetime. Targett is a past chair of H&R Block’s
Franchise Satellite Council and serves on numerous corporate
working committees. He’s been named a top 100 franchisee six times.
His offices sponsor multiple annual golf tournaments and youth
racing events.
Honorees were recognized with a commemorative crystal award,
monetary award, a letter signed by company co-founder Henry W.
Bloch and special accommodations at the National Franchise
Convention hotel.
More than six decades of franchise support
H&R Block opened its first franchise office in 1956, a year
after brothers Henry and Richard Bloch founded the company,
virtually creating the franchise model. With 60 years of
franchising history, H&R Block has created a support system
franchisees use to market their business, serve their clients and
expand to new offices.
H&R Block franchisees now operate nearly 3,600 H&R Block
offices nationally. To learn more about H&R Block franchises,
visit www.hrblock.com/franchise or call
1-800-HRBLOCK.
About H&R Block H&R Block, Inc.
(NYSE:HRB) is a global consumer tax services provider. Tax return
preparation services are provided by professional tax preparers in
approximately 12,000 company-owned and franchise retail tax offices
worldwide, and through H&R Block tax software products for the
DIY consumer. H&R Block also offers adjacent Tax Plus products
and services. In fiscal 2017, H&R Block had annual revenues of
over $3 billion with 23 million tax returns prepared worldwide. For
more information, visit the H&R Block Newsroom.
For Further InformationSusan Waldron,
816-854-5522, susan.waldron@hrblock.com
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