A student standing and speaking in front of a large crowd in French Auditorium.

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.

Learn more

Assistant Professor of Trombone Cole Bartels, DMA, is a new faculty member in the School of Music. His classes will include applied trombone lessons, studio classes, chamber music, music theory, and more.

Prior to his position at CMU, Bartels taught at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and Concordia University Wisconsin. Bartels received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in April 2022. While residing in the Madison, Wisconsin area he worked extensively as a freelance musician.

Bartels has experience in many genres of music including classical, salsa, and jazz. He enjoys performing contemporary music and collaborating with composers who are still alive. There is more to experiment with in contemporary music according to Bartels. Creating exciting new sounds that people haven’t heard before inspires him when it comes to performing.

As for teaching, he finds inspiration in the hard work his students put in to succeed. He says, “seeing the moments when something finally clicks” inspires him. He enjoys helping and watching his students find success in their music-making and career goals.

Bartels had CMU on his radar when applying to master’s programs years ago, so when it came time to look for a teaching position, it was his top choice. The campus atmosphere, the university’s values, and the small-town feel of Mt. Pleasant are some of the reasons Bartels picked CMU. He has felt welcomed by the other faculty, staff, and students, and is excited to start teaching in the fall.

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

Source: Kendall Weishaupt

Media Contact: Kara Owens