Then and Now: Collins influenced NWA entrepreneurial scene - Talk Business & Politics

After two decades of helping cultivate Northwest Arkansas's startup landscape, longtime ecosystem builder Jeannette Balleza Collins is charting a new chapter as director of strategic alliances at Fayetteville-based Zenwork Inc. A fixture in the region's entrepreneurial expansion, Collins co-founded both DeadFred Genealogy Photo Archive and Bentonville's Grit Studios, an innovation company to facilitate access and connections for high-impact, later-stage companies. Collins served as managing director of the ARK Challenge technology accelerator program, was a founding team member at Startup Junkie and co-founded Tonic Regional Funds. A member of The CEO Forums, she also advised the Fayetteville Innovation Council. In 2019 she became entrepreneurial development director for the Northwest Arkansas Council and then worked for national nonprofit Right to Start, focusing on entrepreneurship as a civic priority. She continues to serve as its ambassador for Arkansas. Collins joined Zenwork in January 2025. Named to the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal's Forty Under 40 class in 2008, Collins has seen her efforts multiplied over the past 20 years, resulting in a robust entrepreneurial...

Source: https://talkbusiness.net/2026/01/then-and-now-collins-influenced-nwa-entrepreneurial-scene/