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Small funds with industrial focus. Blackford primarily (if not exclusively) invests in MI only. Auxo is a tiny fund that buys businesses from small brokers and outside of auctions. Both are value-oriented prefer to pay 5x or less for businesses with some hair.
Blackford recruited at my school so i'm somewhat familiar with them. LMM fund focused on manufacturing, distribution, and business services with ~200MM AUM. Primarily invests in Michigan companies, but has a few investments elsewhere. They're headquartered in Grand Rapids, MI and seem to be trying to expand recently by opening up satellite offices outside of Detroit and San Diego.
They're obviously not a huge fund, so don't expect the pay to be in line with larger PE shops especially at the more junior levels, and they're in a less than desirable location for most people I'd imagine. However, it certainly would be a decent experience if you're willing to overlook those things. Also, I'm aware that they received an award for 'Private Equity Firm of the Year' by M&A advisor and apparently beat out the likes of Thoma Bravo and Blue Wolf, so they must at the minimum have a solid investment team and returns. Certainly can't hurt to try to network.
You can PM me if you want, I have some more info but don't want to drag on too much
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