Representing Mesilla Valley at the state capitol

When legislators gather, what often follows is a whole host of policy discussion that loses sight of what’s really at stake—people’s lives. When government does its work, everything that results, or too often doesn’t result, impacts the lives of people.

Each year, the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce organizes an event in Santa Fe that brings people from the Mesilla Valley to the capitol to remind legislators that their decisions impact people in southern New Mexico. Formerly called Las Cruces Day in Santa Fe, the event now reflects a broader regional focus, Mesilla Valley Days in Santa Fe.

On the last day of the gathering, attendees are invited to the Roundhouse while the legislature is in session. That’s how Mesilla Valley Days wraps the weekend.

“On Monday, after our breakfast event, we're going to the Roundhouse,” said event chairman Shawn Martin. “If you've never been there during a session, it is a crazy thing to behold. When we're up in the gallery or some of us are sitting on the floor behind a senator or representative, then they can go back and say, ‘Our constituents care about what we're doing up here and we have a responsibility to them, and this is why we're advocating for X, Y, and Z.”

Mesilla Valley Days is about networking and socializing with local business leaders at the home of our state government, but it’s more than that. It’s a chance to have the backs of those who represent this lesser-seen part of the state and provide grassroots support as they fight for the people of southern New Mexico.

“Realistically the goal is to involve our business community and our community as a whole to advocate for the legislation that they think is necessary for Dona Ana County and the Mesilla Valley region,” Martin said. “The main focus is to push and advocate for our region. In the process of doing that, we have mixers, networking events, receptions. but a byproduct of that is cultivating relationships with local elected officials.”

“Another aspect to that is to really teach our business community in Las Cruces how to build relationships with our local officials,” said event co-chair Tyler Overberger. “A lot of this work happens months before the session. It’s not like you call them in January and you want to push an agenda, it's the fact that we should be making connections and networking with these senators and all of that before the event comes so when we go to Santa Fe, we can advocate together and show up for southern New Mexico.”

The mix of events at MVDSF allows attendees to get to know each other on a deeper level than often happens in regular business interactions.

“I think that a lot of the relationships that I have now in our community are a direct result of me participating with Mesilla Valley Days in Santa Fe,” Overberger said. “It's not very often that you can get the mayor of the city, a city counselor, a county commissioner, a representative, a senator, a business owner, a healthcare provider, all of those people, all in the same room at the same time. You can literally in one event, talk to 15, 20 people and start developing those relationships so when you have a concern about something you can go have coffee with them and talk about those concerns because you've already built that relationship and they know who you are and you're not just a random person that's calling them or emailing them.”

This year’s MVDSF is the first weekend of the 30-day legislative session, which kicks off Jan. 20. The event begins Saturday, Jan. 24 with an opening reception and networking event.

Sunday opens with brunch. The day includes a workshop session on navigating the legislative process, and ends with one of the weekend’s highlights, a reception at the governor’s mansion.

“That’s an experience within itself,” Overberger said. “Never would I have thought that I'm hanging out with the governor on a Sunday at her house. That’s an experience that a lot of people have never had.”

In recent years, Martin has advocated for a bit more of a conference feel to the weekend’s agenda.

“In the past it was more of a networking type of situation versus the actual content,” Martin said. “I think when I became the chair of this a few years back, we needed more content to give our participants tools that they can use going forward. Let's do a workshop, get more of a conference feel to it. We’re going to have a session and we're going to talk about legislative priorities. We're going to talk about how I get more involved. This is great. I got to meet a lot of people, but what am I going to do to follow through with that?”

Mesilla Valley Days is a major event for the Chamber. Martin and Overberger are at the forefront in planning and leading the event, but it is the Chamber ambassadors and a large group of volunteers that pull it off.

The weekend’s activities are available to anyone who wants to register and attend. They are not limited to local business leaders. In 2025, among the 180 participants were a large group of new people who are not Chamber members. What is the biggest draw to MVDSF?

“I feel like adventure would be a one-word answer,” Overberger said. “It’s a new experience. How often do you go and learn how to advocate with senators sitting right next to you or the mayor of Las Cruces sitting right next to you. We're all there for the same purpose, all walks of life, different views, different beliefs, but we're all coming together for one purpose and that is to advocate and show face for Las Cruces and the surrounding area, the Mesilla Valley.”