Start up
Build up your venture idea.
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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.
The Department of Computer Science welcomes a new faculty member
by
Henry Heller
The Department of Computer Science welcomes a new faculty member, Assistant Professor Rasha Gargees. She teaches programming languages in the computer science program.
Gargees received her Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Missouri. Before joining CMU, Gargees was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Missouri, where she had the privilege to teach, conduct research, and provide academic services.
Gargees chose CMU for its inclusivity and diversity, as well as for the great opportunities and resources. She is excited to bring positive changes and contribute her knowledge to CMU and its students. CMU's resources and facilities will help Gargees achieve her career objectives as a professor and a researcher.
While teaching, she hopes to continuously help students in their learning process. She finds teaching a rewarding profession as one gets to be a part of students' career journeys. Providing her knowledge while helping students figure out their path in life is Gargees' biggest goal while at CMU.
In the future, besides teaching, she wants to continue working and researching in the computer science field. She hopes her work can provide services to the university and the community. Gargees views artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and real-time geospatial intelligence systems as providing an excellent opportunity for a broad range of research discoveries for the next few decades. Gargees's short-term goal is to expand and standardize service platforms, creating a general structure that accommodates various purposes utilizing these cutting-edge technologies.
In addition, Gargees intends to explore a wide range of novel research prospects under the umbrella of smart cities that leverage technology for efficiency. Her long-term goal is cultivating various constructive, well-motivated research initiatives on real-world projects that amalgamate theoretical and practical research with leading-edge technology to improve services and infrastructures for smart city communities.
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.
