Community networking under one roof: Lakeway Landscaping discovers that building a place where all can come to discuss future ventures can bring a community closer

Published 12:05 am Thursday, March 28, 2024

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By Christian Simmons

For the Clemmons Courier 

Lakeway Landscaping has been in business for over 15 years and has been providing services for the Lewisville, Clemmons and surrounding areas.

“Whether it is our team members greeting you at the door or how we treat our customers during the project process, you can depend on Lakeway. Lakeway enjoys helping our customers take the next step towards bringing a beautiful vision to life,” Lakeway Director of Marketing Mark Connell said. 

And now, Lakeway Landscaping has come up with a new project that assures all can come over and network with others to make their own deals. The project is called “The Patio @ Lakeway.” 

“The Patio @ Lakeway is where we invite ‘Peers, People, Professionals’ to join us,” Connell said. “We want people to come out and enjoy good food, conversation and even network.”

That approach towards community togetherness came as part of a discussion about an upcoming event, Connell said.

“The Patio @ Lakeway was actually created during a conversation regarding our upcoming Easter Eggstravaganza Car Show on Saturday, March 30,” Connell said. “One of our food truck vendors, La Callejera, stopped by to survey his parking area, and during that conversation the owner of Lakeway, Chris Sonafrank, mentioned the idea to Sol Muniz, owner of La Callejera Mexican Food Truck. There was a short discussion about traffic and how busy Jennings Road can be, and the first phase began.”

Connell mentioned that was just the first phase among many before the full project becomes available to the public.

“We are in the first phase, with La Callejera being onsite for lunch and sometimes dinners every Thursday,” Connell said. “One of our executive team members, Grant Sonafrank, has even designed and built tables for all the ‘People, Peers, Professionals’ to sit down and start a conversation over some delicious food. The next phase is to design an actual patio in our parking area, this will allow us to showcase some of the great professional services Lakeway provides. Then the final phase will be to start doing our podcast, which will be called ‘The Patio,’ with a live audience. We will invite different people from the surrounding communities, peers in our industry, and other industry professionals to join us on set for lunch/ dinner and a conversation.”

It was fortunate that Connell and Lakeway owner Chris Sonafrank discovered Mueniz, but how did their initial meeting go? 

“Lakeway actually discovered La Callejera Mexican Food Truck while searching for our March car show food vendors. Plus, we do have an employee that sang their praises,” Connell said. 

Connell, Chris Sonafrank and Muniz appeared to have things well in hand toward making The Patio @ Lakeway a reality. 

But what about hardships and struggles that come with starting a new business? 

“Let’s hope we don’t experience any; thus far it has been a successful partnership, and we know it will only grow with time and word of mouth. Especially as we enter into the other phases of The Patio @ Lakeway,” Connell said. 

When looking toward the future, Connell sees great things for The Patio @ Lakeway, both in future successes and endeavors. 

“Lakeway is growing its network of professionals and customers,” Connell said. “The Patio @ Lakeway, along with other community partnerships, such as Clemmons Food Pantry, and community events, such as our upcoming car show and charity golf event. We want everyone to know #LakewayCares — Cares about each customer and every partnership. We also want them to experience the #LakewayLifestyle, which is one of success and satisfaction.

“Growing the business, developing more partnerships, and in turn offering our customers more services as well as community events to be a part of and enjoy. Lakeway doesn’t want to just satisfy customers or partners. We want to provide services that create loyal customers and partners of the highest standard.”

If anyone is curious about The Patio @ Lakeway, Connell suggests following the company’s social media platforms. 

“Currently you can follow Lakeway’s social media, Facebook, Instagram, X, and LinkedIn, as well as La Callejera’s social media. We are working on updates to our website, lakewaylandscaping.com, and will have a section dedicated to The Patio @ Lakeway.”