UPCOMING EVENTS FALL 2022
IDEA Den: Donut Days
Grawn 166 / IDEA Den | 9am-12pm
Attending a morning class? Need a jumpstart? Stop by Grawn 166 September 6th-9th for free coffee and donuts!
Fireside Speaker: Bob Larson
Plachta Conference Room | 5:30pm-7:30pm
Enjoy pizza and pop with TV Producer and founding partner of Sharp Entertainment: Bob Larson! Producer of popular shows such as 90 Day Fiancé, Man vs. Food, and Extreme Couponing.
Office Hours with Bob Larson
Grawn 166 / IDEA Den | TBA
Get to know IBIE
Grawn 166 / IDEA Den | 5:00pm-7:00pm
Do you have entrepreneurial aspirations? Interested in starting your own business or getting started on the fundamentals? Attend our “Get to Know IBIE” event! Learn about everything IBIE has to offer and enjoy free buffalo wild wings.
New Venture Challenge
Kick-Off & Ideation
Grawn Atrium | 5:30pm-7:30pm
The New Venture Challenge is CMU’s premier entrepreneurship competition! Learn from past NVC participants, interact with other students, and gain insight into what it takes to come up with a venture idea and compete in the New Venture Challenge!
Fireside Speaker
Plachta Conference Room | 5:30-7:30pm Guest TBA.
Bootcamp: Networking Night
TBA | 5:30pm-8:00pm
Bootcamp: Resource Fair & Meet the Mentors
Grawn Atrium | 11:00am- 2:00pm
Come to the NVC Resource Fair to learn about the resources to help you with your New Venture Challenge journey!
Bootcamp / Workshop
Social Event / Networking Competition
Special Event
Free Food & Drinks F
MCSC Competition @MSU
Michigan State University | 2:00pm-9:00pm bit.ly/mcsc-2022
Fireside Speaker: Women’s Forum (GEW)
Plachta Conference Room | 5:30-7:30pm
Listen and learn from successful and experienced entrepreneurs as they share personal insight into running a business.
Bootcamp: Networking Night
TBA | 5:30pm-8:00pm
Bootcamp: Pitch Preparation
Grawn 150G
Mentor Training: 10:00am- 10:30am
Coffee with mentors: 10:30am-11:00am Workshop segments 11:00am-4:00pm
Students are welcome to arrive at 10:30 AM to enjoy coffee and donuts with the mentors. The workshop modules start at 11:00 AM and end at 4:00 PM.
Make-A-Pitch Prep
Grawn 150G | TBA
Need to polish your pitch? Attend our last Make-A-Pitch prep session before the big competition!
Make-A-Pitch Competition
Grawn Atrium | 5:30pm-7:30pm
Do you have a venture idea? A side hustle to help you earn extra money? Or are you looking to turn your technical and creative talents into a business? Present a two-minute pitch at Make-A-Pitch and YOU can win cash and bragging rights!
UPDATE FROM THE DIRECTOR
Thank you for your support during another outstanding year for the Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship (IBIE). This summer, our team has set aside time to recap, reflect, and plan for the upcoming year. We have had much to reflect as we wrapped up the spring semester with an excellent New Venture Challenge, the utilization of our new student idea space, and a level of student energy, enthusiasm, and creativity that we have not seen since pandemic began. My appreciation goes out to our amazing students and our many partners across campus.
In this update, you will see a recap of the institute’s highlights this spring. As I shared previously, we continue to embrace a vision of collaborative, cross-campus entrepreneurship and innovation. We have re-energized our programs post-pandemic, including our first cohort of University Innovation Fellows, a campus-wide Hackathon, and the 10th Annual New Venture Challenge.
As we develop our plans for the 2022-2023 academic year, we welcome additional partners and collaborators across campus and beyond. Be on the lookout as we launch new spaces and programs for students to build community around entrepreneurship, test their ideas, and connect and network with experts. As a student-centric institute, we will offer programs to support students from ideation and team building through venture growth. Please watch for further updates in the Fall semester.
Warm regards,
Julie Messing
Entrepreneurship Faculty & Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship Director, Central Michigan University
10 WITHIN 10 RECOGNITION
Congrats to New Venture Challenge
Alumna Courtney Lorenz a 10 Within 10 Recognition Recipient!
The 10 Within 10 program recognizes young alumni who bring honor to Central Michigan University through work in their career or community. Nominees must be graduates within the past 10 years and age 35 or younger.
Courtney Lorenz is the Founder and idealist at Cultured Kombucha Co.- Michigan’s premier brewer of organic kombucha located in Traverse City, Michigan. Cultured’s mission is to help customers make healthier lifestyle choices - one sip at a time. Cultured supplies both major retailers such as Meijer, and 200 + small business across the state.
Courtney Lorenz Founder of Cultured Kombucha Co.
julie.messing@cmich.edu
You can learn more about Courtney’s business here:
$60,000+ IN CASH PRIZES AWARDED TO THE BEST & BRIGHTEST NEW VENTURES
Ventures
Participants
Judges
Finalist Teams
CAMPUS PARTNERS
2022 NEW VENTURE CHALLENGE WINNERS
High Tech High Growth
Main Street
Social Mission
1st Place: $10,000
Bayle Golden with Safe Row
2nd Place: $5,000
Jamila Little with One Little Elevator Co.
3rd Place: $2,000
Jacob Kapusansky with Kap & Co.
1st Place: $10,000
Daniel Lahey, Alec Reilly, Melanie Rogers and Ashfaq Sayeed with Breeze Sweep
2nd Place: $5,000
Rourke Sylvain and Ali Dabas with Integrated Molecular Innovation
3rd Place: $2,000
Jordan Craven with Tall and Small Designs, LLC
2nd Place: $2,000
Emily Worline and Erin Markovicz with WoMa Bazaar
3rd Place: $2,000
Kathryn Longton and Erike Eifler with Portable Bar
1st Place: $10,000
Mariah Sperkoski with Cupcake Café
Lyndell Patrick, Class of 1975 Elevator Pitch Awards
1st Place:
3rd Place: $1,000
Roy Workman and Kendal Hoppa with Espress & Go
Jakob Christiansen with ProBoard
Rebecca Burden with Cannakissed Botanicals
Kahn with Chocoletzle
Brandon Leon with Raptor Medical
Hackathon Reimagine event was a collaborative effort between University Innovation Fellows, the College of Business, the College of Science and Engineering, and the College of Arts and Media.
During this 2-day event student teams worked around the clock to create innovative solutions to problems. These problems centered around three themes:
The CMU student experience
Mental health and wellness
Transportation and sustainability
At the end of the 24-hours teams presented their solutions to a panel of judges. The top teams took home a total of $3,500 in cash prizes generously donated by event sponsors T-Mobile and Ford Motor Company.
HACKATHON WINNERS ‘22
HACKATHON WINNERS AND THEIR PROJECTS
Overall winner: $1,000 Award
Listening Chip
Team Members:
Jordan Leh, Mackenzie Pollock, Yasaswi Avula.
“We know many people who have struggled to go to counselors because of time but also because they were uncomfortable speaking face to face. Our project provides personal peer-to-peer counseling for CMU students. We created prototypes to show what the possible website/app would look like on the CMU website.”
Judges Choice: $500 award
Positive Thoughts
Team Members:
Clarisa Smith & Justin Spivey
“We created an entire plan for improving the overall mental health on CMU’s campus and help reduce the percentage of students with mental health issues. Our plan includes revising current regulations, bringing in positive/uplifting communities to campus life with positive activity integration, and including a mandatory criteria manual and meetings for Resident Assistants that support all students academically and socially.”
Judges Choice: $500 award
Central Michigan Student Monorail System (CMSMS)
Team Members:
Josh Gutowski, Matthew Couch, Grant Gascho, David Stanley
“We built an Arduino prototype and CNC Machining map and test track. Our project would provide transport for students from south campus to north campus and adds new parking lots.”
Best Solution in the Sustainability & Transportation category: $500 Award
Ride and Go
Team Members:
Emily Naegelin, Shashwat Marjan, Sunil Parvatina
“The basic idea is simple: a driver tells the app where they plan to go and when. The app broadcasts this to riders. If a rider needs to go to said destination, they can request to carpool with the driver. When the driver accepts the rider, the rider is given the make and model of the car, as well as a 4-digit pin number. When the rider finds their driver, they tell the driver the 4-digit pin code to enter. We created a sample UI to show what the app would look like.”
Best
Solution in the Student Experience category: $500 Award
Everyone Matters
Team Members:
Neena Hudson and Ashfaq Sayeed
“The goal is to make everyone feel special. Everyone Matters is an authentic ethnic cuisine establishment which will invite cultural understanding, enabling American students to understand cultural differences, foods, music, history, and context.”
Best
Solution in the Health & Wellness on Campus category: $500 Award
Meet Gabby
Team Members:
Emma Daniel, Hannah Groothuis, Michael Leiby
“We were inspired by our own struggles with mental health on the CMU campus. Meet Gabby integrates resources from CMU and professional services using java script and wix website. It allows students to get the help that they need without the presence of a mental health professional. This service can assess what help a student need based on the answers that they input in a chatbot. Students will then be guided to the information they need, whether that is through professionals here on campus or provide immediate emergency assistance.”
UNIVERSITY INNOVATION FELLOWS PROGRAM
The University Innovation Fellows (UIF) is a program run through Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner’s Institute of Design. The UIF program’s mission is to train and empower students to create innovative change at their university. Fellows experience an intensive virtual training session, share ideas, have meet-ups, and spend a week in Silicon Valley. These students develop programs, spaces, and/or initiatives for their colleges; thereby cultivating and enriching the entrepreneurial cultural on campus.
A big congratulations is due for Fellows Josh Wright, D’yon Padgett, and Kyleigh Golightly. This great group of passionate entrepreneurial minded students were Central Michigan University’s inaugural UIF cohort during the 2021-2022 school year.
We would like to welcome our new incoming 2022-2023 UIF cohort: Jacob Kapusansky, Leslee Weible, Rebecca Ridenour and Taylin Behning. We’re so excited to support them as they develop their projects during this upcoming school year.
VENTURE SPOTLIGHT
My venture was called Cold Harvest Hunting Products during the time of the NVC, but I have recently changed it, due to starting my L.L.C. My venture is now called Rasegan Outdoor Company. The prototype for my first product that I had presented is called The Meat Blanket. The main solution is to prevent harvested deer meat from spoiling when hunting in warmer temperatures. I am now leaning towards generating more new products like The Meat Blanket for hunters across the nation.
Preparing for NVC as a freshman was very nerve-racking because I had a few different ideas swirling around my head up until a couple weeks before hand. I was ultimately nervous because I had not gotten much time to develop this venture, and I really am not a huge fan of speaking in front of large crowds. I had learned a lot of valuable info in my ENT classes and developed a blueprint for my venture and two-minute speech. I did not expect to even make it to the final presentation, let alone end up winning a cash prize at the end.
It was an amazing opportunity to experience the NVC and I am very glad that I overcame some personal obstacles and put myself out there. I was able to have great conversations with many other ENT students, investors, and mentors. My favorite part was the gallery, I got to explain my product more in depth and answer any questions that people had about my venture. I am excited to pursue my venture while in school, and I will for sure be competing in NVC again.
“It
was an amazing opportunity to experience the NVC and I am very glad that I overcame some personal obstacles and put myself out there. I was able to have great conversations with many other ENT students, investors, and mentors.”
Josh Wright
D’yon Padgett
Kyleigh Golightly
Entrepreneurship
You can learn additional information about the UIF program below and stay tuned for updates from our UIF fellows!
Cold Harvest Hunting Products
Robert Rasegan Entrepreneurship Major and Finance Minor
Congrats to our inaugural UIF class! They did amazing work last school year!
IBIE SUMMER UPDATES
INTRODUCING THE IDEA DEN!
Stop into Grawn 166 during our open hours (Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM-5:00 PM) to meet others and work on your new venture ideas.
Check out our two 3D printers. Conceptualize, design and
Monday-Friday from 9:00-5:00 PM. To ensure a staff person is around to assist you, please email Kaye Reimers at NVC@cmich.edu to schedule a one-on-one meeting.
TRAVELING TO TRAVERSE CITY
Two CMU New Venture Challenge Teams take their Ideas to Traverse City!
CMU students and 2022 NVC participants, Daniel Lahey of BreezeSweep and Brandon Leon of Raptor Medical Solutions both presented their new ventures at the University Idea Showcase during Northern Michigan Startup Week in Traverse City.
Northern Michigan Startup Week is a celebration of entrepreneurship and innovation in the northern Michigan area. Participating universities showcased their best student-led ideas to compete for cash prizes and a traveling trophy. A panel of judges determined the best and most innovative idea with the audience voting for their overall favorite team.
Daniel took home third place with his innovative clean-energy venture. Both Daniel and Brandon plan on developing their venture beyond the university.
Congrats to both for putting their ideas out there!
ON CAMPUS
Aug 30, 2022
Basement of UC 12:00pm-3:00pm
Sept 1, 2022
Outside the UC 12:00pm-3:00pm
Sept 7, 2022
Basement of UC 12:00pm-3:00pm
Sept 27, 2022
Basement of UC 12:00pm-3:00pm
Sept 28, 2022
Basement of UC 12:00pm-3:00pm
Oct 4, 2022
Basement of UC 12:00pm-3:00pm
Oct 5, 2022
Basement of UC 12:00pm-3:00pm
Oct 19, 2022
Basement of UC 12:00pm-3:00pm
Thank you for supporting our future entrepreneurs
-IBIE faculty, staff, and students
Interested in supporting IBIE? Help us educate the next generation of entrepreneurs and become a mentor, guest speaker, or event volunteer today! Keep up with IBIE Volunteer Form
Fill out our volunteer application to get started
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