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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Meet Sarah Kelly

by Bree Ring

Did you know that three of the 45 scholarships available to support students in the School of Communication, Journalism, and Media are named in honor of this year’s Media Hall of Fame inductees or their family members? CMU junior Sarah Kelly is one of this year’s recipients of a one-year scholarship award from the Peter B. Orlik Michigan Association of Broadcasters Foundation Scholarship, named for the founder and former director of the CMU Media Arts Program.

Kelly, a native of Grandville, Michigan, near Grand Rapids, was very involved in sports and camping with her family while growing up. That led to her decision to seek an education in broadcasting and sports management. She decided to attend CMU because of its renowned Broadcast and Cinematic Arts program.

“In high school I took a broadcasting class and enjoyed putting out school announcements,” she said. “I began to research possible majors and schools. I knew that CMU had a good broadcasting program and offered lots of hands-on experiences, so I really liked that.”

Preference for this scholarship award is given for a Media Arts Major, Cinema Arts Major, or Minor, and active in media arts co-curriculars. Kelly plans to intern next summer at a Grand Rapids area news station to learn more about production. Currently, she is an operations manager for MHTV, and produces her own local news show, “Morning Central,” covering lifestyle, weekend events, pop culture and opinion. She is also getting involved with CMU Athletics’ Chippewa Sports Network to learn more about directing sports.

Kelly will graduate in May 2026, and will seek a directing position in news or sports somewhere in the Midwest. She is grateful for the scholarship.

“It definitely gives me confidence that faculty members recommended me. They believed in me and that makes we want to get even more involved,” she said.

For more information about the Peter B. Orlik Michigan Association of Broadcasters Foundation Scholarship and other opportunities, visit School of Communication, Journalism, and Media Scholarships | Central Michigan University (cmich.edu).