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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.

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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CMU alum wins Excellence in Education Award

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Central Michigan University alum Ryan Barck (’10) is a recent winner of the Excellence in Education award from the Michigan Lottery. Barck is a high school government teacher in the L’Anse Creuse school district and credits his time at CMU for setting the foundation for a career in teaching.

“CMU prepared me for the classroom,” Barck says. “I remember during a mid-tier teaching class, I thought I knew what I was doing, but my professor picked me apart over my lesson plan. I learned then, that I had the knowledge but didn’t know how to most effectively deliver it. My professor taught me the best way to deliver my lesson plan to students. She challenged me to be a better person and a better teacher. She took the extra time beyond the classroom to help me become a better teacher and that helped me become more prepared for when I had a class of my own.”

Barck attended CMU from 2005-2010, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in education, with a double major in history and social studies.

“I loved my history class at CMU,” Barck says, adding: “Dr. Eric Johnson’s Naziism and the Holocaust History 280 class piqued my interest in history and the Holocaust.”

Barck credits another professor for helping him develop a broader understanding of the world. “Professor Randall Doyle opened my eyes to a non-western perspective of the world,” Barck says. “He taught me that there’s more to life out there. The world is much bigger than your little corner of Michigan.”

For winning the Michigan Lottery Excellence in Education award, Barck received a $1,500 cash prize and a $500 grant to his classroom, school, or school district. He’s also in the running to earn the Educator of the Year award, which comes with a $10,000 prize.