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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.

      The CMU dance program Student Choreography Showcase took place on Dec. 3, 2022. The showcase features the original choreography of students in the Dance Studies major or Dance minor and is directed by Professor James Wallace. The dancers work on these pieces for 12 weeks of rehearsals, and the showcase is entirely student run. 

      This showcase allows participating students to begin developing choreographic skills from their first semester. Dancers have over 24 hours of rehearsals across the semester and complete all the set up and take down on the stage themselves. This structure is similar to what is expected with traveling dance companies and allows dancers to develop their professional skills.  

      As a professional choreographer, Wallace strives to provide the same mentorship and support he received when he was a student. He aims to help them develop professional standards for their rehearsals, offering encouragement and constructive criticism. Wallace’s goal in working with students in the showcase is to, “help them grow as choreographers and see their work, and choreography in general, from a different perspective.” 

      The Student Choreography Showcase takes place every fall semester. This spring, the University Theater Dance Company performance takes place on April 20-23 in Bush Theater, and features new choreography from CMU faculty, select student works from the Student Choreography Showcase, and international special guest Masashi Action Machine, from Nagoya, Japan.  

      This story is brought to you by the  Office of Research and Graduate Studies.

      Source: Ellie Heron

      Media Contact: Kara Owens

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