Press Release Details

KANSAS CITY, Mo., Nov. 07, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 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.

2017 H&R Block Franchisees of the Year

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 Information
Susan Waldron, 816-854-5522, susan.waldron@hrblock.com

Source: HRB Tax Group, Inc.