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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Meet Ella Pierzecki

by Bree Ring

CMU junior Gabriella “Ella” Pierzecki is this year’s proud recipient of a one-year award from the Peter B. Orlik Michigan Association of Broadcasters Foundation Scholarship, named in honor of CMU Media Arts Program founder and former director Peter B. Orlik. Orlik will be inducted into the School of Communication, Journalism, and Media’s MEDIA HALL OF FAME this November.

Pierzecki, a native of Canton, Michigan, always wanted to do something to help people. In high school, she loved giving speeches and took news classes.

“After visiting CMU a couple of times and learning more about the Broadcast and Cinematic Arts program, I decided to apply,” she said. “I love the hands-on experience I received in my freshman year, and I already feel ahead of my peers.”

Preference for this scholarship award is given for a student with a signed Media Arts Major, or Cinema Arts Major or Minor, and active in a Media Arts co-curricular activity. Pierzecki, who is majoring in Integrative Public Relations, completed an internship this past summer at WDIV-TV Channel 4 in Detroit, where she worked at the assignment desk and coordinated story assignments for reporters. She also pitched stories for their website. She also interned for WCMU as a student reporter for the radio station.

“I used my scholarship for pay for my internship course credit,” Pierzecki said. She plans to work in television news and is grateful for the financial support.

“I feel very honored, and I love CMU. This scholarship has really encouraged me to continue to pursue broadcast journalism,” she said.

For more information about the Peter B. Orlik Michigan Association of Broadcasters Foundation Scholarship and other opportunities, visit School of Communication, Journalism, and Media Scholarships | Central Michigan University (cmich.edu).