A student standing and speaking in front of a large crowd in French Auditorium.

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.

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.

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More than half of this year’s graduating class from Central Michigan University’s College of Medicine will stay in Michigan.

Of the 100 fourth-year medical students, 53 were matched with programs in the Great Lakes State on Match Day, an annual tradition that pairs aspiring physicians with residency programs.

Two-thirds were matched with primary care programs.

The top five specialties accounted for 63 students, with 20 in internal medicine, 19 in family medicine, nine in psychiatry, eight in pediatrics and seven in emergency medicine.

A group of medical students high-five each other in celebration. — CMU College of Medicine students celebrate during Match Day at Dow Diamond in Midland.

Twelve total students were matched at programs on CMU’s main Saginaw campus or satellite locations. Three of those matches are part of the MIDOCS program, a partnership between four of the state’s medical schools, including CMU, which aims to attract and retain medical providers in Michigan’s underserved urban and rural communities.

Of the 12, eight will serve residencies in Saginaw, including five in psychiatry, two in family medicine and one in emergency medicine.

Two will move to residencies at Ascension St. John Hospital in Detroit and two to residencies at Spectrum Health Lakeland in southwest Michigan.

In addition, two will move to military residencies, one each in the Navy and Air Force.

It was one of the best match years yet for the program, said Dr. George Kikano, CMU vice president for health affairs and dean of the College of Medicine.

“This is all a testament to all your hard work, about the hard work of the faculty and staff we have at CMU College of Medicine,” he said during his opening remarks. “Our job is to take care of you and make sure you’re well-positioned to succeed in whatever specialty you choose.”