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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.

      Young chefs engage in healthy cooking

      by Kathleen Hodgkins

      On January 18, students and their teachers from Renaissance Academy in Mt. Pleasant teamed up with Dr. Jeff Fisher in the Allen Foundation Culinary Nutrition Center to provide a healthy cooking class. The center is home to the Nutrition and Dietetics program at CMU.

      Students learned how to prepare homemade pizza, a simple and healthy dish. Throughout the demonstration, Chef Eric Schneider engaged the students in how to prepare this popular meal. Making pizza from scratch may seem challenging, but the cooking class showed otherwise.

      “The students had a tremendous experience cooking in the kitchen while learning about healthy cooking,” Amber Schneider stated.

      The newly renovated and state-of-the-art culinary center in Wightman Hall has 12 workstations with commercial-style ovens and modern food service equipment. Nutrition and Dietetics courses taught in the Allen Foundation Culinary Nutrition Center include Introduction to Food and Culinary Techniques, Food Science, and a new course offered every fall, Introduction to Wine.

      For more information about the Nutrition and Dietetics program and course offerings, please contact program director Dr. Najat Yehia at yahia1n@cmich.edu. To inquire about the Allen Foundation Culinary Nutrition Center, please reach out to Director Dr. Jeff Fisher at fishe2jj@cmich.edu.

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