Apr. 21--It's all too easy, amid news of 1,600 more layoffs at General Motors and the growing anxiety over the fate of Chrysler, to lose track of good economic news when it happens in Michigan.

So herewith, we shine a light today upon an investment of $4 million in Ranir LLC, a Michigan company that boasts that it's "in the business of creating brighter smiles."

Honest.

And, as an odd little tangent to that tale, we also share the true story of a house in Ann Arbor that sold in just five days, generating four offers and a winning bid that was actually higher than the asking price.

Honest.

Ranir, of Grand Rapids, is a 30-year-old outfit founded by a dentist who strongly believed in the merits of flossing. It makes toothbrushes, dental floss and flossers, tooth whiteners and other oral care products.

To keep growing, Ranir wanted to buy the Plackers brand of popular dental-flossing devices, made by San Diego-based Placatrol Inc.

But Ranir was reluctant to take on more debt. Its plight came to the attention of Jeff Bocan, managing director of Beringea LLC, a Farmington Hills venture capital firm that's comanaging $150 million for the InvestMichigan Growth Capital Fund created last year by the state to help retain and attract businesses.

"It's a tough market to get bank loans, and Ranir was willing to give up a slice of equity," Bocan said, "so it's a great deal for the state."

The financing deal was wrapped up last week.

Investing in the state

Last year, the state set aside $300 million of its $57 billion in public pension funds for investing specifically in Michigan companies. Beringea and Credit Suisse comanage the Growth Capital Fund, which targets growth companies; Glencoe Capital runs the Michigan Opportunities Fund to focus on buyouts and private equity investments.

Another, smaller economic impact of Beringea's work on the InvestMichigan Growth Capital Fund is the relocation of Bocan, who was running Beringea's Los Angeles office, to the company's headquarters in Michigan.

Bocan, 36, has decided to settle in the Ann Arbor area and has made offers on three houses. But he hasn't snagged one yet. The last one he bid on sold for more than the asking price, he said -- perhaps an indication that the housing market is showing signs of life, at least in Ann Arbor.

Bocan had worked in London, New Jersey and Washington, D.C., before spending the last three years in Los Angeles.

More than a few friends gave him quizzical stares when he said he was moving from L.A. to Michigan.

But one old friend put it this way to him: "How often do you get a chance to help rebuild and reshape an economy?"

Contact TOM WALSH: 313-223-4430 or twalsh@freepress.com