Back to Main Menu

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.

      Skills employers are looking for

      by User Not Found
      Experience and education play a huge role in landing any job. Those can be measured. Other traits, such as interpersonal skills, are harder to identify. Ideal candidates bring the best of both worlds.
      Experience and education play a huge role in landing any job. Those can be measured. Other traits, such as interpersonal skills, are harder to identify. Ideal candidates bring the best of both worlds.

      Communication skills

      Job recruiters look for employees who can communicate clearly their ideas, goals, objectives and strategies. They want good listeners who are willing to engage with stakeholders and who understand needs and demands.

      Being a good communicator also means having good people skills such as being likable and not self-serving.

      Strategic thinking

      You can move to the top of any employer's list if you grasp the company's big picture and solve problems. Bloomberg lists strategic thinking as one of the least-common but most-desired traits in potential employees. Understanding the company's identity and being able to strategize new plans in achieving its goals can go a long way in setting you apart.

      Ability to work collaboratively

      Regardless of the company, employers want an employee who can work in a team. This means building trust, minimizing conflicts, and setting roles and responsibilities. Candidates who can provide examples of working with others in a group or team project demonstrate high emotional intelligence. Consider graduate school programs or volunteer opportunities if you wish to increase your leadership in small group settings.

      Creative problem-solving

      Employers are looking for people who can identify a problem and generate various options to solve it quickly and effectively. Employees who make decisions and implement solutions are likely to be confident in their own abilities to take responsibility for their actions. There are many methods and tools that you can pursue to elevate your problem-solving expertise: attending a workshop, going back to school or taking online classes. These all show employers you are willing to improve. Staying on top of what employers are looking for can move you to the front of the line.

      See how Central Michigan University can help you develop the technical skills the job requires and the interpersonal skills employers need at Global Campus.

      Events

      VIEW ALL EVENTS
      VIEW ALL EVENTS

       

      View our programming newsletter

      Entrepreneurship News

      Questions?

      Contact the team