Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) resigned from the Senate today.

Martinez first announced it this morning at a staff meeting, where he said he will not return to the Senate after the August recess.

Last December, Martinez announced he would not be seeking re-election to the Senate, but that he would serve out his full term, which expires in 2011.

This is the second time Martinez has resigned from a high-profile Republican office. He resigned as chairman of the Republican National Committee in October 2007 to focus on his legislative responsibilities.

Martinez’s announcement today creates a unique position for Gov. Charlie Crist (R-Fla.), who is currently the frontrunner for the Republican nomination. Crist could be tasked with appointing a candidate to fill the seat until Martinez’s term expires in 2001.

Check out this video

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Are you following DaytonaChamber on Twitter? If not, you should be! There is such great info, including breaking news and government relations updates coming out of Twitter these days. Here are some of the recent highlights:

Five Counties in Florida (including your own Volusia) are banding together to form a 260-mile bicycle trail. Full story here.

An article on building meaningful business connections through social media - read it here. This includes some information on Twellow, "the Twitter yellow pages," which allows you to find people in your industry to follow, and to search for people in a specific demographic area to follow, which is important for small businesses looking for relevant material on Twitter.

The Chamber is tweeting - are you? Connect with us on Twitter - @DaytonaChamber.
 

Chamber Advantage Seminar Series continues with "7 Habits of Effective Leaders"

The Chamber and the Small Business Development Center at Daytona State College have seized the opportunity to bring in Nancy Boyle, founding director of the Small Business Resource Network and producer/host of “Speaking of Business” television show. Boyle will present the key concepts of the Covey Institute’s top effectiveness programs.

The fundamentals of great leadership: it’s a unique, new approach to management development that helps your management team move from getting good results to attaining great and enduring results. The seminar will be held in Building 110, room 112 at Daytona State College.

Check-in and a continental breakfast begin at 8:00am with the program running from 8:30 - 11:30am. The price is $45 for Chamber members and $65 for non-members. ALL participants will receive a book on the 7 Habits of Leaders!

Seminar topics will include:

• FOCUS: Understand the power of focus, Identify high-leverage activities - increase balanace and productivity, Understand how quality relationships drive high-quality results, Implement a three-step daily planning process.
• LEADERSHIP: Performance Management, Accountability and trust, Execution, Collaboration, Team and employee development.

Sponsorships are available, as are scholarships for participants. For sponsorship information, contact Kevin Kilian at (386) 255-0981, ext. 230 or kevin@daytonachamber.com. To register for the seminar, contact Gail Miller at (386) 255-0981, ext. 229 or gail@daytonachamber.com.