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Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship

We are a dedicated institute for student entrepreneurs across campus and beyond. We aim to maximize your success by fostering your entrepreneurial mindset, promote inter-disciplinary collaboration and provide support for the creation and development of your new ventures. Jumpstart your ideas and get involved today!

Tune in for excitement!

Passion. Potential. Pitches. Don't miss any of the 2025 New Venture Challenge excitement.

Tune in Friday, April 11 at 1 p.m. for great ideas and fierce competition. Then, join the judges, mentors, spectators and teams as they see who is going home with thousands of dollars in venture financing. The awards broadcast begins at 6:30 p.m. and one team will walk away as the overall best venture. 

Start your entrepreneurial journey

Central Michigan University’s College of Business Administration is the home of the Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship and the first Department of Entrepreneurship in the state of Michigan. We are a student-centric hub where experiential, curricular, and external entrepreneurial opportunities intersect.

Our mission is to maximize student success by fostering a campus-wide entrepreneurial mindset that promotes inter-disciplinary collaboration and the creation of new ventures.

We aim to create innovative programming, boost cross-campus and ecosystem collaboration and provide a comprehensive mentoring program.

Our institute provides extracurricular opportunities and is open to all undergraduate and graduate CMU students.

Student opportunities

  • Meet experienced alumni, faculty, entrepreneurs, investors, and other business and political leaders.
  • Learn practical skills, innovative thinking, and connect with mentors and entrepreneurial resources.
  • Attend skill-building workshops and compete in pitch competitions and Hackathons.
  • Take part in special scholarship programs and travel experiences.
  • Pitch your venture at our signature New Venture Challenge event and compete for up to $20,000 in cash awards.

      Find your path

      Are you interested in becoming an entrepreneur?

      Every journey is unique. Explore the opportunities that interest you.

      A legacy of learning

      by Jason Fielder

      Central Michigan University’s Grandparents U Summer Camp has become a yearly tradition for alumna Marjorie Sheppard ’77. This year's camp, held June 18-20, was the 16th she has attended. Over that span, she’s had 9 of her grandchildren go through it with her.

      “They love it!” Sheppard said. “You should hear them talk about it. They love the class sessions.”

      Sheppard, her husband John, and their grandkids Molly, Jacob and Kathryn were among the 116 people who attended CMU’s 17th Annual GPU Camp.

      A family of five, including two grandparents and three grandchildren, sit on a staircase and smile. The boy grandchild is holding a parachute with a small red box attached to it. The girl grandchild holds a small red box.
      The Sheppard family poses during the egg drop competition. Front row: Kathryn Hazelton. Middle row (from left to right): Jacob Hazelton, Molly Grant, Marjorie Sheppard. Back row: John Sheppard.

      The event is for alumni and friends who are grandparents and their grandchildren between the ages of 8 and 12.

      "Grandparents U is all about diving into fun, hands-on learning,” said Brittany Milan, Senior Associate Director of Alumni Engagement. “It's a celebration of family, education, and the joy of discovery, where every activity is designed to strengthen the special bond between grandparents and their grandchildren."

      Participants spent three days and two nights on campus, taking part in interactive and educational hands-on sessions hosted by faculty and staff.

      Classes included a behind-the-scenes look at WCMU public television, touring the campus police station, summer cooking for kids, and an egg drop competition, among many others.

      In the foreground, a grandmother and her granddaughter are wearing aprons in a kitchen and making smores. In the background, a chef helps another grandmother and her granddaughter with their smores.
      A grandmother and her granddaughter make s'mores during a cooking session.

      “We love all of the sessions,” said Ann Edwards, a grandparent, who along with her husband, Bill, came from Maine to attend the camp with their two grandchildren. “It’s great spending quality time with them, and all of it is planned out for us, so we just get to enjoy them (without having to figure out how to entertain them).”

      This was eleven-year-old Avery Roebke’s fourth year attending GPU. She says the hands-on activities, staying in the residence halls, and CMU’s tasty campus dining are what bring her back.

      “Touring the police station is my favorite session,” Roebke said. “Taking fingerprints, doing the shooting simulator, and trying on the police gear was fun. (The gear) is so heavy!”

      Two grandparents sit in the foreground while their three grandchildren sit around a table in the background, watching a police officer dressed in a CMU polo shirt teach them how to take fingerprints.
      A CMU police officer instructs GPU students on how to take fingerprints.

      The experience is so fun and memorable for the Sheppard family that Marjorie says she has older grandkids who wish they were still eligible to attend GPU.

      “I’ve got a 15-year-old and a 13-year-old that went through it, and they said if my two youngest back out, they want back in!” Sheppard said with a chuckle.

      Note: The term Grandparents University® is a registered trademark originated at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is used with permission.  

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