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.

      Fashion, Merchandising and Design Awarded Grant from Cotton, Inc.

      by User Not Found

      Cotton Incorporated, a not-for-profit company whose mission is to increase the demand for and profitability of cotton through research and promotion, awarded Fashion, Merchandising and Design (FMD) a grant from the 2023 Cotton in the Curriculum (CIC) Grant Program for a proposal submitted by faculty member Joy Lee, “The Use of the CottonWorks™ Website as the Primary Material for an Introductory Fashion Merchandising Course.”

      The purpose of this project is to use the CottonWorks™ website as an online open educational resource for two sections of the introductory-level FMD course: Introduction to the Fashion Industry.  Using the website, a set of unique content, activities, and assignments will be developed and implemented into FMD’s existing course site on BlackBoard and will be implemented in fall 2023.

      “I am excited that the use of the CottonWorks™ website as an online Open Educational Resource (OER) will replace the current commercial textbook for these classes, and reduce students’ financial burden,” said Lee.  “Students will be better prepared for class because they can use the study materials whenever they are available. It will also create better engagement opportunities for students, leading to a better understanding of the fashion industry.”

      The core information for this objective can be found on the CottonWorks™ website.

      Events

      VIEW ALL EVENTS
      VIEW ALL EVENTS

       

      View our programming newsletter

      Entrepreneurship News

      Questions?

      Contact the team