GBOLA Profile

Association Details and background

GBOLA is the only professional trade association in Washington that specializes in leasing private sector commercial building and warehouse space to State and Local Government.

Our Primary Goals

Since our inception, GBOLA has been very successful for our membership. We helped turn the tide of expensive state-owned and constructed facilities with proof that leasing is often most cost effective. With reasoned arguments and accurate data, GBOLA has earned the reputation and respect of key players in the state legislature, the Department of Enterprise Services and the Office of Financial Management.

Our primary goals are interfacing with state and local governments and legislative and regulatory affairs. GBOLA has retained the services of Mark Gjurasic, Public Affairs Consultant, and Chester Baldwin, Public Affairs Consultant/Attorney, whose role are to represent us before the Washington State legislature and agencies of government. Their roles include the introduction of legislation and reviewing the State Capital Budget, the bi-annual budget, and the Transportation budgets.

GBOLA has also retained the services of Irena Pilchowski, Executive Director, whose role is to oversee the daily operations of the Association. Irena provides the communication link between members and the Board of Directors and has a strong communication link with the Department of Enterprise Services (DES), previously known as General Administration (GA). Irena, Mark and Chet work hand-in-hand to keep members informed.

GBOLA represents a group of building owners who got together in 1994 to promote the efficiencies of the private sector in providing leasehold facilities that best serve the interests of government agencies, their employees and their communities.

Reasons to Join

Learn More About the Benefits that your Membership Carries

We feel GBOLA has a lot to offer you as a potential member. The rewards are apparent. In order to continue on our successful journey, we need to grow as an organization. We invite you to contact the GBOLA Office at 360.485.2390 or at irenapil@comcast.net if you have any further questions or our lobbyist Mark Gjurasic at 360.481.6000 or at mgjurasic@comcast.net.

We also invite you to our next upcoming GBOLA Board Meetings, which are held the second Wednesday, of each month. The meetings are held at the Rants Group Conference Room on the second floor (724 Columbia St. NW, Olympia, WA 98501). Please contact our Executive Director, Irena Pilchowski, if you are able to join us to see what GBOLA is all about.

Association Information

We have Associate Members representing the support industry.
GBOLA’s Board of Directors is made up of 9 members (7 Regular and two Associate Members).
GBOLA is managed by our Executive Director, Irena Pilchowski.
Our Professional Lobbyist’s maintain an active relationship with our legislators while monitoring and keeping us abreast of legislative activities that may affect us.
Board Members generally meet monthly/bi-monthly (more often if needed) to conduct the Association’s business. All members are invited to join us for these meetings.
Full membership meetings are held once a year.

Membership Dues

GBOLA’s 2019 budget is approximately $90,000.00.
The annual membership fee for Regular Members is $39.00 per one thousand (1,000) square feet of leased office space and $8.00 per one thousand (1,000) square feet of warehouse space.
Associate Members pay $500.00 per year.
GBOLA’s goal is to keep membership fees at a reasonable rate.
As our membership grows, the regular membership fee will go down.

Our Accomplishments with respect to Department of Enterprise Services

Instrumental in starting the Real-Estate Forum that meet the second Wednesday of every other month to include private and public sector.
Created a communication path to the DES Director’s office.
Worked to revise the Leased Space Requirements.
Updated the carpet specifications.
Updated the HVAC specifications.
Helped create a Preferred Leasing Policy.
Worked to perfect Optional Lease Clauses.
Became the industry contact for leasing policy.
Working to exclude cancellation clauses in all leases.

Our Accomplishments with respect to the Legislature

Represented the industry in the State’s various studies on Owning vs. Leasing.
Hired a financial consultant to work on the issue of Owning vs. Leasing.
Lobbied successfully for an RCW for Leases with a term of 10 years and more.
Lobbied against outsourcing real-estate services to private brokers.
Inserted a proviso in the budget to conduct the Life Cycle Cost Model when the state considering building their own building.
Assisted friendly legislators.
Testified in many Capital Budget Hearings.
Our Lobbyist’s continually monitor legislation to see if any affects us.