Back to Main Menu

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.

      CMU recognized at a national music convention

      by Matheus Souza

      Molly Damitio, Gino Rimanelli, and Nadia Burgess were selected as winners of the 2022 National Flute Association (NFA) Collegiate Competition. They will perform at the 50th Anniversary Convention in Chicago, in August 2022. 

      A picture of the 2022-23 CMU Flute Studio
      Dr. Joanna Cowan White (left) and the 2021-2022 CMU Flute Studio

      The Collegiate Masterclass Performers Competition selected six college flutists to perform in masterclasses during the 2022 National Flute Association Convention in Chicago. This national competition was open to any flutist who has been a full-time undergraduate or graduate student enrolled in an accredited college, university, or conservatory during the 2021-2022 academic year. Damitio was one of the six winners and will represent CMU at the convention. 

      Damitio also holds achievements within our campus community. She was selected as a 2022 recipient of the Central Michigan University President’s Award for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity. 

      Rimanelli and Burgess were selected to perform in the Collegiate Flute Choir conducted by Gareth McLearnon at the 2022 NFA Convention. The Collegiate Flute Choir Competition had very specific repertoire requirements. Each piece had to be recorded and uploaded by February 15, 2022, for full consideration. Both Rimanelli and Burgess are excited to carry what they learned at Dr. Joanna Cowan White’s studio at CMU to the convention in Chicago. 

      Events

      VIEW ALL EVENTS
      VIEW ALL EVENTS

       

      View our programming newsletter

      Entrepreneurship News

      Questions?

      Contact the team