Union Venture Corp. to Consolidate in Irvine

Hoping to capitalize on Orange County’s entrepreneurial spirit, Union Bank said it plans to move its Union Venture Corp. subsidiary to Irvine, where the venture capital unit has had an office for the last year.

The Los Angeles-based bank also promoted a 12-year bank veteran, John W. Ulrich, 38, of Huntington Beach to head the venture capital subsidiary. Ulrich has been with Union Venture for the last 10 years, most recently as vice president and manager of the Irvine office.

The three professional employees at the Pasadena headquarters of Union Venture are expected to join Ulrich and another employee in Irvine. But Ulrich said the date of the consolidation is not certain because the bank has not given final approval.

Union Venture, which has $20 million in assets, has provided about$40 million during its 19-year existence to fund such new companies as Gradco Systems Inc. in Santa Ana. It hopes to concentrate on Orange County’s high-technology market and expects to invest $6 million in young companies this year and $2 million to $4 million more next year, Ulrich said.

Ulrich replaces Brent Rider, who resigned in May to form his own company.