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.

Learn more

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.

Learn more

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.

Learn more

Innovation

Explore your ideas and build your skills.

Learn more

CMU student vaccination clinic scheduled for April 23

by Sanjay Gupta

Central Michigan University has partnered with the Central Michigan District Health Department to vaccinate nearly 3,000 students at a clinic on campus April 23.

All registered CMU students can now schedule appointments to receive Moderna vaccines, made available by the CMDHD, at Finch Fieldhouse. Appointments are available 10 a.m.-noon and 1-6 p.m. Vaccines will not be available without an appointment.

"Providing vaccinations for students is a critical step in protecting the health and safety of our campus community," CMU President Bob Davies said. "We deeply appreciate our health department partners who have made it possible to begin vaccinating thousands of students before the semester ends."

Students can schedule appointments before 5 p.m. Friday, April 16. Appointments are available on a first-come, first-served basis, and all CMU students today received emails and text messages with a link to schedule an appointment.

Moderna is a two-dose mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. This type of vaccine has been shown to be safe and effective in slowing the spread of COVID-19 and has been administered on campus during previous vaccine clinics.

Dr. George Kikano, CMU's vice president for health affairs and dean of the CMU College of Medicine, acknowledged that many students who receive their first dose of the Moderna vaccine on campus may then leave campus, and the Mount Pleasant area, for the summer.

"While it is recommended that individuals receive their second dose from the same provider as their first, it is not required," Kikano said. "We hope some who receive their first dose here on campus are able to return four weeks later for their second. However, if that's not possible, they should be able to show their vaccine card at another provider to receive their second dose."

Kikano also noted that both doses of the vaccine must be from the same manufacturer.

"If students receive a Moderna vaccine for their first dose, their second dose must also be Moderna," he said.

CMU, working with the local health department, began providing COVID-19 vaccines on campus in March. Since that time, the university has hosted or co-hosted more than 25 vaccination clinics and helped to administer more than 7,500 doses to members of the campus and surrounding community.