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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 student builds his own instrument

      by Teagan Haynes

      CMU Student William Fex II was recently awarded a Summer Program in the Arts and Research grant from the CMU Office of Research and Graduate Studies to research and construct an Aquarion, a marimba-type instrument with a wood frame and glass keys. What makes this instrument different from a rosewood marimba, and because of its custom-build, it will be one of a kind. Very few know of the Aquarion because there are only two known musicians who perform with it as part of their profession.    

      The Aquarion consists of many pieces that are being developed around the United States. The bars were crafted by Elemental Design, a hand-made percussion crafting site in Maine, and then shipped to Hyer Percussion Products, located in Ohio, who is currently making the frame and base Once each piece is completed, they will be shipped to William who will need to assemble the pieces. William believes the Aquarion parts will arrive on campus before the end of this Fall semester. 

      In anticipation of the instrument’s arrival, William spent the summer and more time this semester practicing multiple pieces. Some of the pieces he plans to perform on the Aquarion in the upcoming months are Etude in B Minor by Fernado Sor, Commondetto by Carl Leopold Röllig, and Feeling Better by Ivan Trevino. William says that he hopes to be able to perform for everyone on campus right before winter break or at the start of next semester. “There is much more to explore surrounding the Aquarion, it’s unique sound, and its untapped range of creative capability.” 

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