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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.
CMU’s yellow sub to boost Great Lakes research
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Central Michigan University’s Institute for Great Lakes Research recently acquired a two-person submersible that will help researchers get a better handle on what’s happening beneath the surface of the Great Lakes.
But first, students and faculty from across campus will get a chance to flex their skills by upgrading its systems.
The Amik Dodem – the Anishinaabemowin word for “beaver clan” – will enhance research in several ways, said Don Uzarski, Institute director. Anishinaabemowin is the language of Michigan’s Indigenous people.
In addition to portholes that allow the crew to look into the waters beneath the surface, the front frame permits the attachment of several pieces of equipment.
One of those will allow researchers to scan underwater pipelines – like the controversial Line 5 beneath the Straits of Mackinac – to see if it has cracks, even those too small to be seen by the naked eye.
The sub is more than 20 years old but is fully functioning and safe, Uzarski said. Sub operating system technology has improved dramatically over the past two decades. So has expertise in those fields, some of which is at CMU.
One of those systems is in underwater navigation. Amik Dodem is currently fitted with a fish finder for use as a sonar. It can spot schools of fish and make a crude map of the floor, but Uzarski said he’s working with the School of Engineering and Technology to develop something much more precise.
Other improvements could target the sub’s ability to communicate with the boat that accompanies it into the water, a GPS unit and improved life support systems, Uzarski said. Another improvement could leverage research into batteries.
“Batteries are everything for this,” Uzarski said.
In addition to the School of Engineering and Technology, the work could involve students and faculty in the College of Medicine and the computer science and geography programs, he said. The upgraded systems could be ready for use by summer 2025.
The steel-framed Amik Dodem can travel at 5 knots while submerged and safely dive to 350 feet with people aboard. Funding to purchase the sub came from multiple state and federal grants.
Signature Programs
Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship
Explore special opportunities to learn new skills and travel the world.
Compete & Win
New Venture Challenge 2025
Present your venture and win BIG at the New Venture Challenge.
Build your skills
Workshops and events
Boost your entrepreneurial skills through our workshops, mentor meetups and pitch competitions.
Develop your ideas
IDEA Den
Learn about the entrepreneurship makerspace on campus in Grawn Hall.
Ready, Set, Pitch!
Make-A-Pitch 2024
Present a 2-minute pitch at the Make-A-Pitch Competition and you could win prizes and bragging rights!
Meet Mentors
Mentorship and support
Connect with mentors and faculty who are here to support the next generation of CMU entrepreneurs.
Support students
Make an impact
Are you a CMU alum looking to support CMU student entrepreneurs? Learn how you can support or donate to the Entrepreneurship Institute.
View our programming newsletter
Alumni give back to students through mentorship, real-world experiences
The Wakeling Gendron Entrepreneurial Scholars program wrapped its first cohort this academic year.
Students compete to win cash prizes at the New Venture Challenge
Pitched 40 ventures at NMV Challenge, Friday, April 19, CMU. Judges awarded $100,000 in cash prizes.
Wakeling Gendron Scholars make a life-changing trip to Texas
Wakeling and Gendron Scholars attended SXSW in Texas, meeting industry leaders and gaining entrepreneurial insights.
Business barriers lead CMU students to a new venture
Justin Ashman and Philip Mundt won Central Michigan University's New Venture Competition with their 3-D printing operation, Form Further.
