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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.

      Finding sunshine on a cloudy day

      by User Not Found

      Students looking for the best study spaces on campus should add Central Michigan University’s Greenhouse to their list. 

      Built in 1994, it’s home to approximately 200 different species. CMU’s Greenhouse includes seven different rooms, four of which are different climates. Visitors can find tropical plants in the main tropical room; plants that have adapted to grow in hot, dry climates in the desert room; ferns and other plants that love humid and moist conditions in the Paleozoic room; and plants that have either flowed or submerged in water in the aquatic room. 

      European water clover gently floats in the aquatic room.
      European water clover gently floats in the aquatic room.

      One of the original plants in the greenhouse is the agave. It’s the oldest and largest plant, standing at about 6 feet tall in the desert room. Karin Johnson, manager of the CMU Greenhouse and botanical gardens, said another fan favorite is the powder puff tree, which has bright pink flowers. 

      The pink powder puff tree in full bloom.
      The pink powder puff tree in full bloom.

      Introductory biology and ecology classes come to the greenhouse every semester for labs, Johnson said. The greenhouse also produces plants for many different biology classes to use in their experiments, as well as plants for on-campus gardens, including the Fabiano Botanical Garden.

      The greenhouse is welcome to everyone, and Johnson encourages students to visit.

      “In the winter, when you just want to be warm and feel the humidity, it’s a great place to relax,” she said. 

      Sun shines through the glass ceiling a the CMU Greenhouse.
      The CMU Greenhouse offers students an escape from chilly days.

      Visitors coming to the greenhouse should stay on the paths. Visitors are no longer required to wear a mask in the greenhouse; however, if the visit is part of a lab or classroom experience, university mask guidelines apply. The greenhouse is open to the public from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each weekday.

      See more greenhouse photos on the CMU Facebook page.

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