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.
Interim marketing, communications leaders announced
by
Ari Harris
Central Michigan University President Neil MacKinnon has identified an interim leadership team to support University Communications following the resignation of John Veilleux, the current vice president and chief marketing officer. Abby Dean, deputy chief marketing officer, and Ari Harris, executive director of strategic communications, will serve as co-leads for the unit beginning in early January 2025.
Dean, a CMU graduate, joined the UCOM team in February 2019 as the director of integrated marketing. In her current capacity as deputy chief marketing officer, Dean oversees the 16-member Integrated Marketing and Digital Strategy team. Her team is responsible for stewardship of the CMU “We do” brand across all communication channels, including the cmich.edu website; developing comprehensive multi-channel marketing campaigns; managing media purchases; collaborating with campus partners to increase student enrollment; and more.
Harris joined CMU in December 2017 as an assistant director of communications. She now serves as the head of the strategic communications team, which leads public relations efforts including proactive and reactive media relations, internal and external news and storytelling, executive communications, crisis and issue management, campus partner training and more. Both Dean and Harris had prior higher education communications and marketing experience, and both have served on the University Communications leadership team for several years.
“Abby and Ari’s knowledge, skills and backgrounds complement each other well, and they have demonstrated a passionate commitment to supporting the University Communications team,” MacKinnon said. “They have strong relationships with leaders across campus, and I am confident they will keep the team’s good work going as we seek the department’s next leader.”
MacKinnon said the university would begin a national search for the next vice president and chief marketing officer early in the new year.
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.
