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.

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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.

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.

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Innovation

Explore your ideas and build your skills.

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Experts from Adobe will lead four workshops on Friday, September 27

by Claire Allen

In-person and remote options are available for CMU students, faculty, and staff.

An Adobe Extravaganza will help you take your digital literacy skills to the next level. Four different Adobe workshops will be held in the Park Library on Friday, September 27, for CMU students, faculty, and staff. CMU is an Adobe Creative Campus, meaning everyone in the CMU community can access the complete Adobe Creative Cloud software.

To ensure that all students, faculty, and staff can take advantage of the creative tools available to them, Adobe experts Jim Babbage and Karina Anglada will lead workshops on the newest and best features of Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Express Plus, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Premiere Pro. Each workshop will last one hour and showcase the latest features incorporating artificial intelligence and popular features. Participants can ask questions or ask for specific features to be covered when they register to attend.

All students are encouraged to attend – especially if they are unfamiliar with Adobe products. In this age of increasing digital expertise, everyone needs to understand the potential of these creative tools. Developing digital literacy skills can help students think critically, produce innovative projects, communicate more effectively, build their personal brands, prepare for the challenges of an increasingly digital world, embark on a lifelong learning journey, and achieve career goals.

The Digital Literacy @ CMU committee, which includes members from all areas of CMU, is hosting these workshops and supports additional Adobe training opportunities throughout the year. Later this semester, Katie Edmiston, co-chair of Digital Literacy @ CMU and Arts, Media, and Design Librarian, will offer Adobe Express Plus and Adobe Photoshop workshops.