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.

Learn more

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.

Learn more

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.

Learn more

Unlock your inner creativity in an Adobe workshop this fall

by Claire Allen

A laptop displays a logo design in progress, accompanied by a cactus, glasses, a rolled-up paper, and a calculator on a clean, organized desk.

As part of the CMU Libraries’ goal to increase digital literacy and the use of Adobe programs on campus, several Adobe workshops are being taught this fall by librarian Katie Edmiston and are open to any CMU student, staff, or faculty member.

Now offered in a hybrid format, these 2-hour workshops allow participants the opportunity to get a beginner-level introduction to a specific Adobe app, learn about the type of projects they can complete with the program, and ask questions in a hands-on environment.

“I didn't know anything about Adobe Express before the training but feel equipped to use it in our office from here on out,” one CMU staff member said.

Workshops being offered this fall include an introduction to Adobe Express, a beginner-friendly design program that can be used to create flyers, presentations, reports, social media posts, webpages, and more. There will also be a beginner-friendly introduction to Adobe Photoshop for those looking to learn some of the basic capabilities of the program and how to use it for photo-editing. Sign up for one of this semester’s Adobe workshops here!

“I loved how easy Adobe Express was to use. I can definitely see myself using it for research presentations and maybe to create a newsletter for my STEM group,” shared a CMU student.

Central Michigan University became an Adobe Creative Campus in 2020, giving us the ability to provide free, full access to all state-of-the-art Adobe design programs for our campus community. This means that any CMU student, staff member, or faculty member can experiment and create with Adobe programs like Photoshop, Premiere Pro, and Illustrator regardless of their major or job description.

To support CMU’s designation as a Creative Campus in 2020, CMU Libraries opened the Adobe Digital Lounge. Located on the second floor of the library, the Lounge is a collaborative and creative space for campus members to get support using Adobe programs, work on digital or multi-media projects, and access new technology and equipment.

Interested in working in a different Adobe program? Reach out to the Adobe Digital Lounge to get support on your next project, either by visiting us during drop-in help hours or by emailing AdobeDigitalLoungeStaff@groups.cmich.edu.

Don’t forget to request your free Adobe license so you can start using Adobe programs today!