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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.

      2022 is the 50th Anniversary of Title IX

      by User Not Found
      Coach Fran Koenig talks to her basketball team, 1970s
      Coach Fran Koenig talks to her basketball team, 1970s

      2022 is the  50th anniversary of Title IX, the landmark legislation that prohibits sex-based discrimination in education. To mark the anniversary, Central Michigan University honored six women’s athletics legends as the  2022 Homecoming Grand Marshals: Mary Bottaro, Christy Freese, Sue Guevara, Margo Jonker, Fran Koenig, and Marcy Weston. As part of the Homecoming festivities, the CMU Office of Alumni Relations, in partnership with the Title IX: Gender Equity Committee, CMU Athletics, the Office of Civil Rights and Institutional Equity, and the Clarke Historical Library, hosted a panel discussion about the importance of Title IX.  Watch the recording, featuring Coaches Freese, Guevara, Jonker, and Weston, and Tangela Cheatham, CMU’s Deputy Athletic Director for Administration and Senior Woman Administrator.

      As part of the commemoration of Title IX's 50th anniversary, WCMU Public Media also released  another installment of "Let's Go Back: Stories from the Clarke Historical Library,” showcasing the 1980 AIAW Women's Basketball Championship held in CMU's Rose Arena.

      And last but not least, the Clarke has put together  a web-exhibit looking at Title IX’s impact at CMU. Learn more about the days of different curriculum and social rules for women and men, the pioneers and leaders of CMU athletics, and the efforts of students, staff, and faculty to raise awareness about and stamp out sexual violence.

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