Trent Murphy has been hiring, and now with some help from the city of Ankeny, he’ll have more working space for his employees.

Murphy, president and co-owner of CJM Financial Inc., a transportation factoring business at 1014 S.E. Lorenz Drive in Ankeny, plans to double his company’s office space to about 6,000 square feet within the next three months. CJM, which employs 15 people, specializes in purchasing trucking companies’ accounts receivable at a discount to provide immediate payment.

“Last year we added three employees, and I anticipate adding three or four more people next year,” said Murphy, whose business has branched out into factoring in other industries, among them staffing firms. “But we’ll finally be in a position with our facility to add those people.”

CJM has applied for a five-year tax rebate on the value of its planned improvements, with funds provided from expected tax revenues on the improvements through the tax increment finance district in which its building is located. The Ankeny City Council is scheduled to consider a development agreement for the tax incentive at its Dec. 5 meeting. Curtis Brown, the city’s economic development director, said the tax incentive should equal about $43,000, based on an estimated $250,000 value of the improvements. In August 2010, the City Council authorized up to 10 years of financial incentives for existing businesses that expand or add employees in the next two years, double its usual five-year incentive. Brown said CJM is the sixth business to apply for tax incentives since the city sweetened its incentive package.

Murphy said he was unaware of the increased incentive available, but said the five-year package he will receive made the difference in deciding to expand in Ankeny rather than build elsewhere.

“Our business is not dependent on location, so the incentive to build out here, the tax incentive, was something that kept us here,” he said.

The Ball Team LLC will be the general contractor for the project, which is expected to be completed by March.