THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 4, 1997 TAG: 9701040301
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM SHEAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 48 lines
Tax-preparation service Jackson Hewitt Inc. has added a former executive of rival H&R Block Tax Services Inc. to its board of directors.
The new director, Harry W. Buckley, served as president and chief executive officer of H&R Block Inc.'s tax subsidiary from 1988 until 1995, when he retired.
Buckley was named to the seat previously held by John T. Hewitt, founder and past chief executive of Virginia Beach-based Jackson Hewitt.
With 26 years of experience at H&R Block, Buckley can provide valuable advice to Jackson Hewitt, said Keith E. Alessi, Jackson Hewitt's chairman, president and chief executive.
``We knew he was available, and we went after him,'' Alessi said.
Buckley, who lives in the Kansas City area, began his career as a tax-preparer at H&R Block and worked his way to the top of the organization.
``Jackson Hewitt has been the perennial - and distant No. 2 - in the tax wars,'' said Rick Telberg, editor of the accounting industry publication Accounting Today. ``They are getting the benefit of someone who ran the market leader.''
``Buckley stood out as someone who understood market forces, electronic filing and where the consumer was going,'' Telberg said.
Jackson Hewitt, H&R Block and other tax-preparation chains are faced with slowing revenue growth and greater competition from personal computers.
``Where is tax preparation going if everybody and his brother has a home computer and tax software?'' Telberg said.
Hewitt had steadily reduced his ties with Jackson Hewitt before leaving its five-member board last month. He stepped down as chief executive last July and resigned as chairman in October.
After a lengthy search for a new CEO last year, the Jackson Hewitt board picked Alessi in June to succeed Hewitt. Alessi, a former executive with the Farm Fresh grocery chain, picked up the additional title of chairman in October.
H&R Block, based in Kansas City, is the nation's largest tax-preparation service. It has more than 8,300 offices in the United States and another 1,370 offices in Canada, Europe and Australia. For the fiscal year ended last May 30, its revenues from tax preparation totaled $831 million.
Jackson Hewitt, the second-largest tax-preparation chain in the United States, has more than 1,300 offices. Its revenues for the fiscal year ended last April 30 were $25 million.