Some firms specialize in helping the little guy; but your most effective advocates—especially before lawmakers—are your own members Palmer Kanitra Hay Brett Palmer, president of the $2 million-revenue Small Business Investor Alliance, needed just a little bit of lobbying help last year. With Congress fighting about the fiscal cliff and tax extenders, SBIA—which represents small private-equity funds—needed another pair of eyes and ears on the Hill. So Palmer hired a "very experienced" temporary lobbyist who specialized in certain niches in the tax code from a 2½-year-old company called HillStaffer, a consulting and government relations firm that serves… Read More