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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University Communications campaigns garner international acclaim

by Aaron Mills

A young male and female stand in an office as confetti falls from the ceiling. A yellow rope with a hired sign hangs between them. — Central Michigan University's University Communications won three awards for its 2024 "We Do" brand campaign and app fee waiver social media campaign.

Central Michigan University’s marketing campaigns are three-for-three so far this awards season.

CMU’s 2024 “We Do” marketing campaign captured gold at the 2024 MarCom Awards and platinum at the 2024 Viddy Awards. CMU’s 2024 app fee waiver campaign also won a gold Viddy award.

The accolades follow a groundbreaking 2023 campaign that reinvented college commercials. Created completely in-house by University Communications, the campaign garnered 16 national and international awards and earned a Michigan Regional Emmy Award nomination last fiscal year.

The 2024 campaign set out to tackle one of higher education’s biggest questions: “Is college worth it?”

Using a matter-of-fact tone and a reassuring host, the visually striking campaign was built to capture the audience’s attention while driving home the university’s key differentiator: A CMU education prepares you for a career.

“It’s great to see the team recognized for their work,” said Abby Dean, deputy chief marketing officer of integrated marketing & digital strategy. “What’s better is that we’re seeing positive metrics in our campaign, which means we’re hitting the mark with our target audiences.”

Those metrics saw a 59% increase in ad clicks, a 39% increase in landing page sessions and a 110% increase in landing page engagement.

The 2024 awards received to date are: