The PIAA national headquarters site in Auburn, NSW, has been sold, with the industry association set to move to rented offices in Chatswood by the end of November. New CEO Jason Allen did not divulge any detail about the Auburn site’s sale, how much or to whom, saying ‘it does not matter, no one needs to know’.

PIAA CEO Jason Allen

However when pointed out that members would like to know the price their association HQ building was sold for. He replied: “That’s a fair question. We have sold if for more than we purchased it, and the money will be well spent. “We made the decision to sell because the market was strong and so selling it was in our favour. “We may buy another office space in the future but that is not yet decided and it will be far the in the future.” He says some of the money will be spent to update the association’s CRM system, and on new projects, which he did not want to disclose. Allen says, “Our CRM system is outdated and we needed to get a new system that will allow us to be sustainable in the future. “We are not going to jump around spending the money willy-nilly, it will go through a careful consideration and we will invest in projects that will bear fruit for the members.” After Allen took over as the new CEO several long-time employees moved on, which he says left some of the members non-plussed. Allen says, “We have received positive feedback from some members about the changes and the new faces at the association. And there has also been some who are not aligned with change, and have been outspoken about it, which is quite normal.

The PIAA national headquarters site in Auburn, NSW

“But we are getting on with the job. Our new staff have already been successful, and we have signed up four new members, which hasn’t happened in a long time.” Allen says offices owned by the association across the country will also be leased out. “We have large office sites in states around the country and those places are running with one or two people working in them. We will be leasing those sites out and our officers will be on the road meeting with members to ensure they are being served and getting the most out of their association. “Of course if there is a need for us to hold an event or workshop, we will hire a venue suitable for that particular event.” The new PIAA HQ in Sydney will be on Help Street, Chatswood, and Allen says it will be available for out of town members to use.

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