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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.

      Central Michigan University junior biochemistry major, Macy Knoblock, has been captivated by the mechanisms by which things work since she was a child.

      That fascination and insatiable desire to learn has led to the Ubly, Michigan, native earning a prestigious Goldwater Scholarship.

      Macy Knoblock

      “The coursework in my biochemistry degree has given me the tools to begin appreciating and exploring these complexities but has also inspired my interest in applying chemistry to solve biological and medical problems,” she said.

      Through her studies, Knoblock’s interests lie in how next-generation sequencing data is utilized to study transcriptomic changes underlying distinct cellular states.

      “During the COVID-19 pandemic, I collaborated remotely with my professor, Dr. Xantha Karp, to compile data on the expression of collagen genes at different larval stages and identified any that were expressed specifically at different stages,” she said.

      Professors and mentors have been integral in her personal and professional development since beginning at CMU. Knoblock credits several who continue to support and invest in her education.

      In 2021, Knoblock completed a 10-week internship working in the Bioluminescent Optogenetics Lab alongside CMU College of Medicine researcher, Dr. Ute Hochgeschwender. The internship, made possible through the National Science Foundation’s NeuroNex Program, allowed Knoblock to pursue her interest in biomedical research, even as an undergraduate student.

      “In the lab, the level of trust Dr. Hochgeschwender and {graduate assistant} Emmanuel Crespo placed in me and the challenges they entrusted me with pushed me to grow and fostered my independence as a researcher,” said Knoblock. “Dr. Karp and Matthew Wirick have been incredible mentors over the past three years and have guided me as I have learned basic lab skills, effective scientific communication, and experimental design. I am incredibly appreciative of all the support and time these individuals have invested in my education. ” 

      Knoblock will receive $7,500 in aid from the Goldwater Scholarship for her senior undergraduate year to further her research and education. She is the fifth Goldwater Scholarship winner at CMU, following winners in 2016, 2017, 2020 and 2021.

      “Winning such a prestigious award and being recognized nationally as an outstanding undergraduate researcher affirms to me that I am capable of pursuing a career in science and have found where I am meant to be,” said Knoblock. 

      There were 1,242 applicants from 433 institutions seeking the award from the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence Education Foundation. Knoblock is one of 417 college students from across the U.S. to receive the award.

      Questions?