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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WCMU Public Media wins 2 Michigan Emmys

by Sanjay Gupta

WCMU Public Media’s flagship televised magazine show “Destination Michigan” and documentary “Linking Land and Lakes: Protecting Great Lakes’ Coastal Wetlands” earned Emmy awards from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Michigan Chapter.

WCMU Public Media’s flagship televised magazine show “Destination Michigan” and documentary “Linking Land and Lakes: Protecting the Great Lakes’ Coastal Wetlands” earned Emmy awards from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Michigan Chapter.

WCMU’s team covered 5,000 miles and talked to more than 40 experts to produce “Linking Land and Lakes,” documenting the vital role coastal wetlands play in keeping the Great Lakes healthy. It won an Emmy in the Photographer Non-News category.

The documentary was produced in partnership with Central Michigan University’s Institute for Great Lakes Research and features the multi-institutional U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-funded basinwide Great Lakes Coastal Wetland monitoring program, led by CMU.

“Destination Michigan” received a third consecutive Michigan Emmy Award for its television excellence in the Magazine Program category.

The winning “Destination Michigan” episode features stories about the Whiting Forest of Dow Gardens in Midland, The Creature Conservancy in Ann Arbor, Mackinac Straits Raptor Watch in Mackinaw City, Michigan’s North Country Trail and Trenary Home Bakery in Alger County.

WCMU Public Media staff members who contributed to the winning programs include Stefanie Mills, Adam Miedema, Chris Ogozaly, Matthew Ozanich and Steven Smith.