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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.

      Social Work students take oath affirming professional responsibilities

      by Sarah Buckley

      Central Michigan University students from the Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) program read an oath affirming their professional responsibility during an annual Convocation Ceremony September 7 welcoming newly admitted students and returning seniors.

      The ceremony emphasizes the responsibility of being a social worker, which includes the pursuit of justice and inclusion for all. Entering students receive a pin from faculty members. Seniors entering their field experience receive a custom badge identifying them as a CMU intern for use in their practicum agencies.

      This year, students will complete practicums in community agencies from Detroit to northern Michigan, in programs ranging from children’s services to homeless programs and senior services.

      Social Work program director Susan Grettenberger and associate professor Lissa Schwander, field education director, served as emcees for the event. The ceremony included welcomes and calls to the profession from Paul Marsh, a field supervisor for BSW interns at the Isabella County Trial Court, Christi Brookes, Acting Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Eve Vicary, a senior BSW student, and Elbert Almazan, Chair of the School of Politics, Society, Justice and Public Service where the BSW program is housed. Marsh also received the 2022 Field Instructor of the Year award from the program.

      CMU’s Social Work program is a professional, accredited program that is rooted in the liberal arts and prepares students for social work practice in a variety of settings. Students are eligible for licensure by the state of Michigan upon completion of their BSW degrees. Over half enroll in graduate social work (MSW) programs all across the country, immediately after completing the BSW.


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