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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.
Social Work Program earns Child Welfare Project Funding
by
Sarah Buckley
Central Michigan University’s Social Work Program is leading the way to increase the number of well-trained workers serving Michigan’s families and children.
CMU joins four other Michigan universities in a pilot program to address the shortage of child welfare workers with funding through a renewable State of Michigan Title IV-E Workforce Development grant.
The new initiative strengthens CMU’s ability to offer social work majors a path to earn a child welfare certificate (CWC), which is endorsed and regulated through the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS). Students who qualify may receive funding as IV-E Fellows in exchange for a commitment to work in the field of child welfare upon graduation.
Through the certificate, social work students receive additional training in areas essential for child welfare workers, including substance abuse disorders, suicide prevention, family violence, sexual abuse and crisis intervention. Students also take an elective course in child welfare taught by a social worker highly experienced in child welfare.
MDHHS offices in all 83 Michigan counties are potential practicum sites. In addition, students may be placed in one of the numerous Michigan private child welfare agencies providing foster care and adoption services. The Child Welfare Certificate and the accompanying Bachelor of Social Work make graduates of the CMU program highly sought after workers.
Social work graduates with the BSW have a wide range of other career opportunities, such as work in domestic violence, justice systems, substance abuse, community programs and political settings. The MSW offers additional opportunities, including school social worker, medical social worker, forensic social worker, therapist (clinical social work) and supervisor in child welfare programs.
The Social Work Program is part of The School of Politics, Society, Justice and Public Service at Central Michigan University.
Signature Programs
Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship
Explore special opportunities to learn new skills and travel the world.
Compete & Win
New Venture Challenge 2025
Present your venture and win BIG at the New Venture Challenge.
Build your skills
Workshops and events
Boost your entrepreneurial skills through our workshops, mentor meetups and pitch competitions.
Develop your ideas
IDEA Den
Learn about the entrepreneurship makerspace on campus in Grawn Hall.
Ready, Set, Pitch!
Make-A-Pitch 2024
Present a 2-minute pitch at the Make-A-Pitch Competition and you could win prizes and bragging rights!
Meet Mentors
Mentorship and support
Connect with mentors and faculty who are here to support the next generation of CMU entrepreneurs.
Support students
Make an impact
Are you a CMU alum looking to support CMU student entrepreneurs? Learn how you can support or donate to the Entrepreneurship Institute.
View our programming newsletter
Alumni give back to students through mentorship, real-world experiences
The Wakeling Gendron Entrepreneurial Scholars program wrapped its first cohort this academic year.
Students compete to win cash prizes at the New Venture Challenge
Pitched 40 ventures at NMV Challenge, Friday, April 19, CMU. Judges awarded $100,000 in cash prizes.
Wakeling Gendron Scholars make a life-changing trip to Texas
Wakeling and Gendron Scholars attended SXSW in Texas, meeting industry leaders and gaining entrepreneurial insights.
Business barriers lead CMU students to a new venture
Justin Ashman and Philip Mundt won Central Michigan University's New Venture Competition with their 3-D printing operation, Form Further.
