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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.

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

      CMU awarded $1.7M grant for COVID-19 wastewater monitoring

      by Sanjna Jassi
      Central Michigan University has received funding of more than $1.7 million from the state of Michigan for COVID-19 wastewater research.

      ​The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has approved funding of more than $1.7 million over the next two years for the wastewater research of Michael J. Conway, associate professor of microbiology in the Central Michigan University College of Medicine.

      Wastewater surveillance is crucial to identifying COVID-19 infections and community transmission early on, including in populations that are not showing signs of illness or may not be seeking health care.

      Conway's lab is part of a statewide network for testing and evaluating the levels of COVID-19 virus in wastewater.

      "We are really excited to participate with a large network of laboratories across the state of Michigan," Conway said. "The data from this research will have a significant impact on the way communities can react to a public health crisis such as a pandemic."

      The grant will support costs associated with COVID-19 wastewater surveillance and local public health response for the research project titled "SARS-CoV-2 epidemiology ― wastewater evaluation and reporting (SEWER) network." SARS-CoV-2 is the scientific name for the virus that causes COVID-19.

      Conway participated in the MDHHS pilot wastewater monitoring program in 2020. According to the MDHHS, all of the participating sites in the pilot project detected SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater, which is promising news for the future of the monitoring program. The amount of the virus in wastewater can serve as an early warning to community health departments so they can quickly begin mitigation efforts. The research also provides data regarding the presence of variant strains of SARS-CoV-2.

      Co-principal investigators on the grant are Elizabeth Alm, professor in the CMU Department of Biology, and Rebecca Uzarski, director of CMU's interdisciplinary environmental health and safety major. Maggie Williams, assistant professor in CMU's School of Engineering and Technology also is participating and will be involved in data reporting and communications.

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