FedEx Ground’s new 238,000-square-foot distribution facility represents more than just a $37 million investment in Romeoville.

The facility, soon to be the ninth in the Chicagoland region, will also bring roughly 270 new jobs to the village, FedEx Ground Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President Ward Strang said during a May 10 groundbreaking ceremony.

The package distribution site, located at 920 W. Taylor Road in the Pinnacle Business Park, is scheduled to be completed in September 2013 and will have an automated system capable of sorting 15,000 packages per hour.

Mayor John Noak said FedEx Ground is just one of the major corporations to move into Romeoville in recent years, including Samsung/M.I.Q, Comcast and Great Kitchens.

He added the facility will encourage growth and attract even more new business to the village.

“It’s not every day that you have a groundbreaking like this,” he said.

“Through this facility, we’re going to be able to touch delivery in five states,” Strang noted, saying the decision to build in Romeoville sprung from a need for additional capacity in the Chicago area.

“We were bursting at the seams, capacitywise,” he said. The Romeoville site will help make FedEx's eight other Chicagoland facilities more efficient, according to Strang.

“Then, it really came down to who’s willing to work with us,” he added. “When you get down to the local level, that’s what makes the difference.”

And Romeoville was more than willing to partner with FedEx on the project, Village Manager Steve Gulden said, touting what he called “the Romeoville advantage” of a pro-business mayor and village board.

Strang said the goal is to complete the project in 16 months, in time for Christmas 2013.

“We’re pushing dirt, moving fast,” he said. “We really hope to be up and running for that peak season.”