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.

2025 NVC Competition Live Stream

2025 NVC Awards Live Stream

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 student standing with a faculty member holding big winning checks from the New Venture Challenge 2024.

Start up

Build up your venture idea.

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A student smiling and standing in front of his venture display at the 2024 New Venture Challenge.

Family business

Explore the Alternative Entrepreneurial Pathways category at NVC.

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A close-up of the Prusa i3 MK3 printer in the entrepreneurship makerspace, the IDEA Den in Grawn Hall 166.

Product and prototype design

Create and patent your ideas.

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Innovation

Explore your ideas and build your skills.

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Central Michigan University students increase voter participation

by Symantha Dattilo

Since 2014, Central Michigan University has steadily increased voter participation rates among students through registration, education and access.

According to the newly released 2022 data from the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE) report, 45.6% of CMU students voted in 2022, up from 34% in 2018. This increase highlights the growing civic engagement among students on campus.

The data reflects a broader trend of heightened civic awareness among CMU students compared to institutions nationally. According to NSLVE, the 2022 average voting rate among all other participating institutions is 30.6%.

CMU has worked to foster a proactive sense of civic engagement and identity through voter registration drives, educational workshops, and collaborations across campus and the community.

“We’re really excited to see CMU students voting at rates that outpace their peers,” said Symantha Dattilo, interim director of the Mary Ellen Brandell Volunteer Center and supervisor of the Central Civics program. “The increased voter turnout is shows how much our students care about their communities and is a testament to the hard work of all of our partners.”

For upcoming elections, the Volunteer Center and their partners will host additional voter registration drives and educational opportunities in the fall for students to participate in.

On National Voter Registration Day, Sept. 17, the Volunteer Center and the CMU Voter Coalition will hold their annual Fire Up the Vote event from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. outside the Clarke Historical Library. Students can expect free food, give away items, games, and voter registration assistance from the League of Women Voters and the Mt. Pleasant City Clerk Heather Bouck.

The National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE) from Tufts University offers colleges and universities an opportunity to learn their student registration and voting rates. It examines their campus climate for political learning and engagement and provides correlations between specific student learning experiences and voting.