Following his time on Capitol Hill, Verbanac entered into several entrepreneurial ventures and held a number of positions in other business endeavors.[1] One of those positions was at Ketchum Communications Worldwide, a prominent public affairs firm, where he worked as vice president of public affairs.[1] There, he handled the accounts for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, GNC, H. J. Heinz Company, Wal-Mart, and MCI Inc.[1] From 1997 to 2000, Verbanac worked as executive vice president of BrabenderCox, a Pennsylvania-based marketing and advertising firm. He helped the firm restructure and launch Adams Marketing, a new venture for BrabenderCox, of which he became president.[1]
He briefly became a partner in IdeaMill, a Pittsburgh-based branding and advertising firm.[1] In 2001, he joined with journalist Albert J. Neri to found Neri-Verbanac Public Affairs, a Harrisburg-based public affairs agency.[1] There, he helped develop The Insider, which became the "largest statewide political publication."[1] The firm was sold in 2005 and Verbanac and Neri parted ways.[1]
Verbanac's relationship with Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl became a campaign issue in the 2009 Pittsburgh mayoral election.[4] In 2010, Politics Magazine named him one of the most influential Democrats in Pennsylvania,[5] even though Verbanac is a registered Republican according to Butler County voter registration records.
