Silicon Valley Bank Opens County Unit : Credit: The Newport Beach branch will specialize in loans and financial services to Southern California technology companies.

A little chip of the Silicon Valley has come to Orange County.

Silicon Valley Bank, a Santa Clara-based bank specializing in loans to high-technology firms, has opened a regional office in Newport Beach to make loans to emerging technology companies in Orange County and throughout Southern California.

James F. Forrester, a senior vice president who will manage the branch, said the move to Orange County was prompted by a survey that found that Southern California lacks a dominant provider of financial services to technology companies.

The branch will focus on extending secured lines of credit to established technology companies, rather than providing venture capital or high-risk loans to start-up companies.

Earlier this month, the bank opened an office in the Boston area, which has a concentration of technology companies headquartered near its Route 128 corridor.

“Next to Silicon Valley and Route 128, this area is probably the third in growth of technology companies, especially in the biotech and medical fields,” Forrester said.

Founded in 1983, Silicon Valley Bank has grown to $575 million in assets. The bank claims to be the largest lender to technology companies in the western United States. One of its early clients was Chips & Technologies Inc. a fast-growing computer chip maker in San Jose, Forrester said.

In the first six months of the year, Silicon Valley Bancshares, the bank’s parent company, posted earnings of $4.8 million, up from $3.2 million a year earlier.

Southern California loans account for 1% of the bank’s lending portfolio now, but the bank hopes to raise that figure to 15%, Forrester said. He said the branch will also provide personal banking services to company executives.

Philip S. Inglee, president of Liberty National Bank in Huntington Beach, said Silicon Valley Bank would be a good competitor because of its specialty in serving medium-size high-tech companies. But Inglee said he sees no shortage of local banks willing to provide loans to established companies.