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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Social Work Students, Faculty Recognize Community Partners

by Sarah Buckley

Central Michigan University students and faculty members from the Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) program recognized community partners for their dedication to providing education and training to social work majors during the Social Work Field Appreciation Event in April. The annual event gives students an opportunity to thank their field placement supervisors and to showcase projects they completed for their agencies over the past academic year.

Social work majors are required to complete 400 hours of professional practice in a human service setting over the course of the fall and spring semesters of their senior year. They serve local individuals, families, organizations and communities in a variety of fields including mental health, child advocacy, housing and homelessness, domestic violence services and senior services.

Field placement partners include local elementary schools, Community Mental Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Isabella County Courts, Anishinaabeg Child and Family Services, Commission on Aging, Juvenile Detention Center and many more.

The Social Work Program honored Brandi Knivila of the Isabella County Commission on Aging with the Field Supervisor of the Year Award. In addition to supervising social work interns for many years, Knivila provides training videos, participates in professional panels and conducts guest lectures in social work classes.

The Isabella Community Soup Kitchen received the Volunteer Agency of the Year award. ICSK has addressed food insecurity in the Mount Pleasant/Isabella County area for 20 years and operates with volunteers, including many CMU students and social work majors.

Child Advocacy of Gratiot County received the Field Agency of the Year award. Child Advocacy provides an outstanding internship experience for social work majors to provide services and programs to children and families, including forensic interviewing, parenting classes, a baby pantry and mental health services.

Students in CMU’s accredited Social Work Program are eligible for licensure by the state of Michigan upon completion of their BSW degrees. More than half of our students enroll in graduate social work (MSW) programs immediately after completing the BSW.