Summary
John Verbanac is a businessman and political operative in Pennsylvania.
John Verbanac | |
|---|---|
| Alma mater | University of Pittsburgh |
| Occupation | political strategist |
| Known for | The Insider, BrabenderCox |
Verbanic earned a B.A. degree from the University of Pittsburgh College of General Studies in 1990.[1] He worked in government and politics in Washington, D.C., as a senior aide and political strategist for two U.S. senators and a member of Congress.[1]
Verbanac worked as consultant for Forest City Enterprises and Harrah's Entertainment in their efforts to secure a casino license from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.[2] The fact that he also was worked as an informal adviser to former Pittsburgh Mayor Bob O'Connor during that time raised questions of impropriety.[3]
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]
In 2005, Verbanac served as a director of the real estate arm of Summa Group, a financial company dealing with service and technology companies.[1] In 2007, Joseph B. Scarnati, President pro tempore of the Pennsylvania Senate, named Verbanac as trustee of his alma mater, University of Pittsburgh.[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.
References edit
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harvith, John (July 9, 2007). "John Verbanac Appointed Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Trustee on Pitt's Board of Trustees". Pitt Chronicle. University of Pittsburgh.
- ^ Lord, Rich (May 27, 2006). "Political consultant at center of dispute over picking casino". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. PG Publishing Co., Inc.
- ^ Fitzpatrick, Dan (August 13, 2006). "Mayor O'Connor has business friends who wield clout". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. PG Publishing Co., Inc.
- ^ Lord, Rich (October 23, 2009). "Orie praises Verbanac's pension help". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
- ^ Roarty, Alex; Sean Coit (January 2010). "Pennsylvania Influencers" (PDF). Politics Magazine. pp. 44–49. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-12-29.