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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.

      Recreation class is a slam dunk

      by Sanjna Jassi
      The student-run Mount Pleasant Gus Macker basketball tournament at Central Michigan University was honored with a local tourism award.

      The Mt. Pleasant Area Convention & Visitors Bureau will honor the Gus Macker 3-on-3 basketball tournament at Central Michigan University with a tourism award for its positive impact on the local economy and community.

      Chris Rowley, executive director of the bureau, said the event has between 200 and 275 teams each year and has brought more than 100,000 visitors to Mount Pleasant.

      ’s is the only Gus Macker tournament run entirely by students. This is the 10th year the event has been part of a recreation, parks and leisure services administration course at CMU.

      Faculty member Tim Otteman teaches the two-credit Production of Festivals and Events course (also co-taught in the past by Lori Irwin from 2010-15 and Brittany Milan from 2016-18), selecting as students about 34 applicants each year based on their skill sets and fields of study. The final exam for the course is the running of the tournament.

      “The class is set up fundamentally so students are learning skills that will be useful for planning any large-scale event, like event marketing and partnering with local organizations,” Otteman said.

      Rowley said the tournament has provided leadership opportunities to 292 CMU students and given more than $100,000 back to the university.

      This year’s tournament is April 27-28 outside of Finch Fieldhouse. The deadline for team registration is April 8.

      The tourism awards banquet is at noon April 4 at the Comfort Inn and Suites.

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