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.

2025 NVC Competition Live Stream

2025 NVC Awards Live Stream

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.

A student standing with a faculty member holding big winning checks from the New Venture Challenge 2024.

Start up

Build up your venture idea.

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A student smiling and standing in front of his venture display at the 2024 New Venture Challenge.

Family business

Explore the Alternative Entrepreneurial Pathways category at NVC.

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A close-up of the Prusa i3 MK3 printer in the entrepreneurship makerspace, the IDEA Den in Grawn Hall 166.

Product and prototype design

Create and patent your ideas.

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Innovation

Explore your ideas and build your skills.

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Interim Liberal Arts and Social Sciences leadership named

by Aaron Mills

Central Michigan University has named Marcy Taylor as interim dean and Christi Brookes as interim associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.

Taylor, currently associate dean of the college, and Brookes, professor of French in the Department of World Languages and Cultures, will assume their interim leadership duties Jan. 1, 2022, as Dean Richard Rothaus moves into his role as interim provost.

"Dr. Taylor and Dr. Brookes bring years of leadership experience to their positions and have been instrumental in the innovative approaches that have made CLASS so successful," Rothaus said.

Marcy Taylor, associate dean — Marcy Taylor

Taylor, who was named associate dean of CLASS in 2019, also served as interim dean for a year following the retirement of Pam Gates in 2018. She first joined CMU as an assistant professor in English Language and Literature in 1996. During her tenure, she has served as both the department's director of composition and its chair, as well as assistant dean of the college. Taylor also served as interim chair of the Political Science department in 2013 during a leadership transition and has served on many universitywide committees.

Taylor received bachelor's degrees in both English and secondary education and a master's degree in English from the University of Idaho. She earned a doctorate in English from the University of Washington. She is a founding co-editor of Pedagogy: Critical Approaches to Teaching Literature, Language Composition and Culture, an academic journal.

Brookes joined CMU in 2004 as an associate professor of French. Since that time, she also served as chair of the Department of World Languages and Cultures from 2012-18 and interim associate dean of CLASS from 2018-19.

Brookes received a bachelor's degree in French literature from the University of Arizona and master's and doctoral degrees in French from The Pennsylvania State University. She currently serves as chief Listserv and social media editor for H-France, the largest scholarly organization for Francophone history and culture in the Anglophone world.

Taylor and Brookes both served as CMU administrative fellows and also are graduates of Harvard Graduate School of Education's Management Development Program.