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!

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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.

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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

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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

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Innovation

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CMU Trustee Plawecki, Class of 1975, receives public service award

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Note: This story was updated October 11, 2024 to reflect Plawecki's reception of the award.

The State Bar of Michigan announced Central Michigan University Trustee and alumnus Edward J. Plawecki, Jr. (’75) is a recipient of the 2024 Frank J. Kelley Distinguished Public Service Award. The honor is awarded annually to state bar members who have served in public office in a way that significantly contributed to the nation, state and the recipient’s community, and to those who “demonstrate the highest standards of integrity, fairness, leadership, excellence, dedication to principle and dedication to the ideals of democracy.”

Three men in suits standing in front of the American flag. — Trustee Edward J. Plawecki, Jr. receives the 2024 Frank J. Kelley Distinguished Public Service Award

Plawecki received his degree in Education with majors in Mathematics and History from CMU in 1975. He was appointed to the CMU Board of Trustees in October 2018 by then-Governor Rick Snyder to serve an eight-year term beginning in January 2019. Plawecki currently serves as General Counsel of and Director of Government Relations for UHY Advisors, a multi-disciplinary professional services and accounting firm. He also is an experienced arbitrator and was responsible for restructuring activities related to the City of Detroit during its Chapter 9 Bankruptcy proceeding.

In addition to his service on the CMU Board of Trustees, Plawecki’s other public service roles which garnered the Frank J. Kelley Award include serving as a Wayne County Circuit Court Judge, Wayne County Commissioner, Southeastern Michigan Transportation Authority Board Member and Deputy Mayor of Dearborn Heights, Michigan.

Chair of the CMU Board of Trustees Todd Regis said Plawecki has made a positive impact in the state through his decades of work.

“I have witnessed first-hand Ed’s strong commitment to serving others and his dedication to improving lives. He continues to carry on the Plawecki family legacy of service to Michigan,” Regis said. “Ed is truly deserving of this recognition for a lifetime of outstanding service that has lifted the many communities he has touched.”

Crystal trophy set on a black table Plawecki’s Trustee colleagues call it an honor to serve alongside him.

“CMU has been extremely fortunate to have Ed. He has a brilliant legal mind. He brings to our board a unique skillset as a former Judge and restructuring expert,” said Trustee Todd Anson, who joined the Board in 2019 alongside Plawecki. “He draws on the same sophisticated finance and restructuring acumen he provided the City of Detroit. We love Ed.”

Plawecki is the third CMU alumnus to receive the Frank J. Kelley Award. Robert P. Griffin (’47) won the recognition in 2003, and Dennis P. Grenkowicz (’77) was an honoree in 2009. Additionally, Robert P. Young, Jr., who served on the CMU Board of Trustees from 1988 to 1995, was recognized with the award in 2018.

Plawecki received the Frank J. Kelley Distinguished Public Service Award during the State Bar of Michigan’s awards luncheon on September 19.