Back to Main Menu

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.

      English Education Alumnus Returns to Share Expertise

      by Sarah Buckley

      Grand Ledge High School English teacher Jason Westra-Hall, a 2018 alumnus of the Central Michigan University English Education program, returned to campus this month to share his experiences as a new teacher and his specific expertise in teaching queer literature.

      While visiting Dr. JoEllen DeLucia’s class, “Women Writers: Gender, Sexuality and Literature,” Westra-Hall described the queer literature elective course he designed, including how it was developed and how it was approved by the Grand Ledge school board—not a small feat, given the charged national political climate around LGBTQIA+ issues, book banning, and other challenges facing educators.

      Following his presentation, Westra-Hall answered questions from English majors and English Education majors in DeLucia’s class.

      “Many of our English teacher candidates aspire to be inclusive of LGBTQIA+ identities and experiences in their future classrooms, so having an experienced English teacher show them an example of how he is successfully doing that work builds a lot of confidence,” DeLucia said.

      Westra-Hall says it’s a joy coming back to campus and empowering to feel like he is making a difference.

      “I credit so much of my success to the professors I had at CMU, the organizations I was part of, the friends I made, the mentors I had, and so much more,” Westra-Hall said. “CMU is where I grew into the educator I am now. To be able to share my own expertise with future teachers makes me so happy to know that I, too, can be a mentor and empower others.”

      Events

      VIEW ALL EVENTS
      VIEW ALL EVENTS

       

      View our programming newsletter

      Entrepreneurship News

      Questions?

      Contact the team