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 students take second place in global ERPsim Sustainability Challenge

by Alisha Toyzan

A team of Central Michigan University College of Business Administration students earned second place in the prestigious global ERPsim Sustainability Challenge, demonstrating exceptional strategic thinking and a commitment to sustainability in a competitive international setting.

The team competed against top university teams worldwide, managing virtual business operations while tackling real-time disruptions and carbon management strategies.

A unique sustainability-focused competition

The ERPsim Sustainability Challenge introduced unique challenges, pushing participants beyond typical business simulations by adding sustainability-related disruptions every two rounds.

Rounds 1 & 2: Participants operated without disruptions, allowing them to establish initial strategies.
Rounds 3 & 4: A dice roll determined the relocation of the main warehouse, increasing transportation distances and carbon emissions due to longer routes to the southern region.
Rounds 5 & 6: A carbon tax increase raised costs from €0.30 per kg of CO2e to an additional €0.25 per kg of CO2e, requiring teams to reassess their sustainability and financial plans.

"The competition was both challenging and rewarding. My focus was on balancing sustainable investments while enhancing production capacity and managing loan repayments to secure financial stability," said Apoorva Nadimpalli, an Information Systems graduate student from Andhra Pradesh, India.

Preparation and teamwork

The CMU team spent several weeks preparing for the ERPsim Sustainability Challenge while simultaneously training for the manufacturing extended ERPsim game for the CMU ERPsim Invitational Competition that was hosted in Finch Fieldhouse in February. The dual preparation needed remarkable management skills together with scheduling expertise and flexibility to succeed at both tasks. The preventive measures toward sustainability created a strategic position for the team.

The team prioritized sustainability from the start, resulting in the lowest carbon footprint among top competitors. This strategic advantage proved crucial when the carbon tax rate increased during the later rounds.

Looking ahead

Encouraged by their success, Nadimpalli is eager to participate in future global competitions. "This experience reinforced the importance of strategic thinking, teamwork, and leveraging technology to solve real-world business challenges," she said.

The team credits their success to the support and guidance of faculty coach Christine Witt. The team members thanked both Witt and BIS faculty member Kyle Nothstine for providing critical guidance that improved their strategic approach during the competition.

About the ERPsim Sustainability Challenge

The ERPsim Sustainability Challenge is a global event where university teams use SAP ERP systems to manage virtual businesses, balancing financial targets with sustainability goals. Students demonstrate their ability to handle business disruptions while applying data analytics to reduce carbon footprints and achieve sustainable growth.