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.

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Student Food Pantry moving to new, updated location

by Aaron Mills

The Central Michigan University Student Food Pantry is making a much-needed move to a new, more recognizable location inside the first floor of Robinson Hall, on the northwest corner of campus.

“The overall goal is just accessibility,” said Symantha Dattilo, interim director of the Mary Ellen Brandell Volunteer Center. “We are really trying to liven the space up and make it feel like it’s a true part of campus life.”

Currently housed in a more off-the-beaten-path location between Robinson and Calkins Halls, the pantry’s new location is larger and more front-facing. In addition to having space for more stock and reliable refrigeration systems, the new pantry features an improved checkout system and a lobby area allowing users to wait indoors, helping to remove some of the personal stigma sometimes associated with food insecurity.

In the foreground, a sign reads Robinson Hall. In the background, a brick building. — The CMU Student Food Pantry is moving to a more front-facing location inside Robinson Hall.

The move also allows the pantry to keep up with the increasing need for its services.

Total visits to the food pantry have increased by 26% compared to a year ago with more than 1,900 unique users accounting for those visits – up 10% from the year prior.

“These are people who receive scholarships, these are athletes, these are students who live in the halls and have meal plans, these are students who live off campus, these are international students,” Dattilo said of the pantry’s diverse user base.

“We know that [expenses] are increasing, and I believe that the food pantry helps students to fully realize their return on their investment in their education when they feel like the community cares about them. And to me, that’s what the pantry symbolizes.”

A brightly lit room with refrigeration units along one wall. — The Northside Market inside Robinson Hall will soon transform into the Student Food Pantry.

The Student Food Pantry will continue to serve the campus community in its current location through Friday, May 30. The new Robinson Hall location opens on Tuesday, June 3. Community members are invited to an open house to tour the new space and enjoy light refreshments during the week of June 3-6.

Open house times:

Tuesday, June 3 from 1-3 p.m.
Wednesday, June 4 from 10 a.m.-Noon
Thursday, June 5 from 1-3 p.m.
Friday, June 6 from 10 a.m.-Noon

More information about the Student Food Pantry, including hours of operation and food insecurity resources can be found on the food pantry’s web page.