Our Story
Geologic Times Corporation
D.B.A. GTC Rock Shop & Science Education Center
Geologic Times Corporation and its D.B.A. of GTC Rock Shop & Science Education Center has been proudly providing fun and educational geoscience-related programs, products, and experiences all with a single goal in mind: inspiring "kids of all ages" in the sciences. Every program and activity we offer involves hands-on learning experiences with educational elements specifically designed to be so engaging and entertaining that the students don't even realize they are learning. It is our belief that one of the most successful ways to teach anything is to make learning fun and the results speak for themselves!
As an educational company, the success of our efforts can never be measured by dollars earned in large part because it often costs far more to run our educational programs than we could possibly charge for them. Instead, our success is based on achieving our mission of inspiring kids of all ages in the sciences. For our entire staff, our greatest reward is knowing our hard work and efforts are making a difference and that is something we could not be prouder of. To make our educational efforts possible, we rely on our retail division and outside support to cover the difference between what we charge and the actual cost to run the programs and activities.
All purchases made at GTC Rock Shop help support our educational efforts and we thank everyone for your support. We couldn't do it without you!
Timeline
2006: Research, feasibility studies, and efforts to create our business plan first began.
2009: Mobile Mining Experience officially became operational. We began operating out of the basement of the founder’s home and one 10 x 20 storage unit. We quickly outgrew the space and added more and larger storage units.
2013: Moved storage into a dairy barn that was built in the 1800s.
2014: Moved operations into our existing commercial warehouse space with a loading dock.
January 2015: Geologic Times Corporation was formed as the first step of our planned expansion.
January 2016: The DBA of Mobile Mining Experience, along with its mission plan and daily operations, was officially transferred to Geologic Times Corporation. As a full “C” corporation, GTC became its own entity thus making it more eligible for grants.
November 2019: Established the new DBA of GTC Rock Shop and opened our first brick & mortar retail store at Francis Scott Key Mall, Fredrick MD.
January 2020: First steps taken to gradually phase out the use of our DBA Mobile Mining Experience and to utilize the DBA of GTC Rock Shop moving forward.
December 2020: Moved one door up from our original brick and mortar store at FSK Mall, Frederick MD to our new 6,000 square foot home. Our new shop features a new and bigger retail showroom, a 54 seat classroom and activity room, a wide range of educational displays, a gem and fossil mining flume, and more.
October 2023: Expanded from 6,000 to 9,000 square feet! After significant delays and cost overruns, we proudly opened our new 3,000 square foot Science Education Center next door to GTC Rock Shop at FSK Mall.
