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.

Learn more

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.

Learn more

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.

Learn more

June 2023 CMU Board of Trustees agenda preview

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This week’s formal session of the Central Michigan University Board of Trustees meetings will include discussion of the 2023-24 operating budget and rates for tuition, and housing and food.

Trustees will also receive updates on several campus initiatives, and will take action on items including the granting of emeritus rank, faculty tenure and promotion, and a report from the Office of Research and Graduate Studies.

Committees convening Wednesday have adjusted their meeting times: the Policy and Bylaws Committee will now convene at 3:00 p.m., and the Academic and Student Affairs Committee will meet at 3:30 p.m.

The Trustees-Faculty Liaison and Trustees-Student Liaison Committees do not meet during June. The Finance and Facilities Committee will meet as a committee of the whole during formal session Thursday.

Wednesday’s committee meetings will include the following highlights:

Policy and Bylaws Committee: Trustees will consider traffic ordinances including parking fees and approval of the 2023-2024 campus map.
Academic and Student Affairs: Trustees will consider a motion to approve a department name change for Marketing and Hospitality Services Administration.

Thursday’s formal session will include discussion and action on the following:

Undergraduate and graduate tuition for the 2023-2024 academic year.
College of Medicine M.D. program tuition for the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 academic years.
Housing and food rates for the 2023-2024 academic year.
Operating budget for fiscal year 2023-2024.

Trustees also will appoint members to the CMU Research Corporation Board of Directors during Thursday’s formal session.

Meetings of the Board of Trustees are held in the President’s Conference Room in the Bovee University Center and are open to the public. In-person seating for up to 25 individuals is available in the Lake Superior Room; meetings are also available via livestream:

Watch Wednesday’s committee meetings beginning at 3:00 p.m.
Watch the formal session Thursday beginning at 11:30 a.m.

Individuals wishing to address the board during the formal session Thursday must submit a request to speak in advance of the meeting in one of two ways:

Visit the Office of the President in Warriner Hall to complete a request card.
Complete the online Request to Address the Board form.

Information about Board of Trustees meetings, including a schedule of meetings and agendas, is available on the CMU Board of Trustees meetings webpage.