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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.

      Find your path

      Are you interested in becoming an entrepreneur?

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

      Don’t take COVID-19 with you

      by Sanjna Jassi
      Central Michigan University students, faculty, staff should work to prevent further spread of COVID-19 when leaving campus.

      ​With the end of the semester and holidays right around the corner, students will return home, and many within the Central Michigan University community may plan to travel to visit family and friends.

      According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, travel increases your chance of getting and spreading COVID-19. Anyone planning to travel outside of our community — or planning their return in January — should consider the following advice to prevent further spread of COVID-19:

      Within two weeks prior to travel:

      • Check for travel requirements or restrictions for your destination.
      • Minimize risk of exposure and infection during the weeks leading up to your departure from campus or Mount Pleasant.
        • Self-quarantine away from others (i.e., leave only for class, work, to get food and for medical appointments).
        • Always wear a mask while around others.
        • If you become infected or are identified as a close contact of someone who is COVID-19 positive, you will need to isolate or quarantine before traveling.
      • Reduce your number of close contacts. Any close interaction with people outside of those who live in your immediate household or residence hall room will present a risk for infection.

      Within a week of travel:

      • Get tested: If you have symptoms related to COVID-19, are concerned you may have been exposed or just want to put your mind at ease, plan to be tested before you travel.
        • COVID-19 testing for symptomatic individuals and close contacts is available on campus through Nov. 25.
        • Surveillance testing is available on campus through Nov. 19.
        • On-campus testing will not be offered between Nov. 25 and Jan. 6. To find a testing site near you during this time, visit the state of Michigan website.

      When it is time to travel:

      • Recheck any requirements or restrictions at your travel destination.
      • Don't travel if you are sick or if you have been around someone with COVID-19 in the past 14 days. Don't travel with someone who is sick.
      • Review the CDC's guidelines on when to delay travel.

      Dr. George E. Kikano, CMU's vice president for health affairs and dean of the College of Medicine, said it is everyone's responsibility to help slow the spread of this virus.

      "We must be vigilant to prevent taking this virus home to our families and spreading it further into other communities," Kikano said. "Also, we all must continue to wear masks, socially distance and wash our hands."

      Sources:

      U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

      Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

      American College Health Association

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