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.

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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

Create and patent your ideas.

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Innovation

Explore your ideas and build your skills.

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Girls in Engineering Academy

by Robert Wang

The Girls in Engineering Academy (GEA), launched by The Engineering Society of Detroit (ESD), is getting young girls excited about science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Started in 2017 by ESD's executive director, Robert Magee, and Dr. Gerald Thompkins, the former Associate Dean of Engineering at Wayne State University, GEA was created to tackle the low number of women and minorities in engineering.

GEA's main goal is to boost interest in STEM among girls in Michigan, especially in the Detroit area. The program aims to give students the skills they need to succeed, no matter where life takes them.

Currently, GEA has over 150 middle and high school students, mostly minority girls from Detroit and nearby areas. The academy already has 17 high school graduates from its first class, all of whom are pursuing STEM degrees in college.

Thanks to GEA’s success, ESD is launching a new program—the Boys in Engineering Academy (BEA). Starting this summer at the University of Michigan, BEA will focus on getting middle school boys from Detroit excited about STEM, with a special focus on engineering.

GEA hires college students, mostly women majoring in STEM fields, to teach and mentor girls from 6th to 12th grade. The academy makes learning fun and immersive, showing students that STEM can be both exciting and impactful.

A highlight for GEA students is their annual trip to Central Michigan University (CMU). Last summer's visit was a hit, with many graduates calling it one of their favorite experiences. This year, from July 8 to August 2, 2024, 11th-grade students will return to CMU and the CMU Biological Station. They’ll take courses in ecology, sociology, engineering, and astronomy, and spend a hands-on week at the Biological Station testing their projects and learning about ecology.

ESD and GEA are thrilled to continue working with CMU, seeing it as a great way to introduce students to the university's engineering programs and the wide range of opportunities available there. The academy is dedicated to nurturing the next generation of STEM professionals and closing the minority gap in engineering.

With these programs, ESD is empowering young people in Detroit and making a big impact on the future of STEM in Michigan.