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.

Learn more

Innovation

Explore your ideas and build your skills.

Learn more

CMU professional sales fraternity excels at annual convention

by User Not Found

The annual Pi Sigma Epsilon national convention is an opportunity for members from across the country to compete in competitions, interview for scholarships and network with potential employers. This year, 13 students from the Central Michigan University Zeta Nu chapter attended the conference, winning multiple scholarships and competitions.

The 70th annual convention in Minneapolis hosted nearly 500 PSE students from across the nation. Brian Caine, a CMU senior and current vice president of professional development for the Zeta Nu chapter, was one of the student competitors. Caine said the competitions are a unique opportunity to gain hands-on experience.

“The competition is significant because it provides students the opportunity to really practice what they’ve been learning in the classroom and apply it in front of professionals who may be recruiting them,” Caine said.

Central Michigan University Zeta Nu chapter won multiple scholarships and competitions at the Pi Sigma Epsilon national convention. — Central Michigan University's Zeta Nu chapter won multiple scholarships and competitions at the Pi Sigma Epsilon national convention in Minneapolis.

Overall, the team had an impressive week in the competitions and scholarship interviews, including:

Arno Kliemenhagen Sustained Excellence Award – Recognizes a chapter that has attained gold status for at least five consecutive years. CMU's Zeta Nu chapter was recognized for reaching gold for nine consecutive years.
First place in the Case Study Competition.
First, second, and fifth place in the Pro-Am yearlong competition.
- Six Pro-Am finalists – the most of any participating school.
- Four Pro-Am finalists in the top-10.
Top Faculty Advisor of the Year.
Second, third, and fourth place in the Pro-Am National Competition.
Top-5 runner-up in the Interview Competition.
Sustained Excellence Chapter Award for nine years of gold status.
Finalists for the Top Social Media Award and Top Recruitment Strategy Award.
Second place for the Top PSE Salesperson.
Whan Challenger Award Finalist.
Three scholarships worth a total of $5,750.

Caine is proud of the team’s accomplishments at this year’s event, his last as a CMU student.

“I really fell in love with the organization and the opportunities that it offers for students and I wanted to be the person that helps others get there as well,” he said. “It's a way to give back to others who have given so much to me.”