Rooted in the Region: Supporting the Next Generation at the Twin Counties STEM Design Challenge

Last week, the Rocky Mount Event Center was filled with some of the most enthusiastic scientists we’ve ever encountered — K-12 students from across Nash and Edgecombe Counties, showcasing hands-on STEM projects they worked hard to build and present.

GXP-Storage® was proud to be there. We were invited to serve as a judge for the Twin Counties STEM Design Challenge, organized by the Strategic Twin-Counties Education Partnership (S.T.E.P.) — a group doing meaningful work connecting local businesses and organizations with the students who will one day make up our regional workforce. The invitation came through a connection at Nash County, and it wasn’t a hard yes to give.

Why This Matters to Us

GXP-Storage sits at the crossroads of Research Triangle Park and the growing biomanufacturing corridor of Eastern North Carolina. North Carolina isn’t just where we operate — it’s where we’re invested. The same region producing some of the world’s most sophisticated life sciences manufacturing is also home to the next generation of scientists, engineers, and innovators sitting in classrooms right now in Nash and Edgecombe Counties.

Events like the STEM Design Challenge exist to show those students that science isn’t abstract — it’s something you can touch, build, and be proud of. That message resonates with us. The work we do every day in GxP-compliant storage and biorepository management is built on the same foundation: precision, problem-solving, and a commitment to getting the details right.

Watching students apply those same instincts — even at a young age — is a reminder of why the work matters.

A Region Worth Investing In

North Carolina continues to attract significant life sciences investment, and the Twin Counties region is part of that story. But investment without workforce development is a short-term play. S.T.E.P.’s mission — connecting local businesses with K-12 education — is exactly the kind of long-term thinking that turns a region’s potential into its reality.

We’re grateful to Susan Phelps and the Nash County Economic Development team for the introduction, and to Pam Gould and the S.T.E.P. organization for including us. It’s a privilege to show up for the community that has supported GXP-Storage’s growth.

We’ll see you next year, Rocky Mount.

GXP-Storage operates GxP-compliant biorepository facilities in Research Triangle Park, NC (Foreign Trade Zone 214) and the UK Golden Triangle.

April 2026 | Rocky Mount, NC
Contributed by Nicholas Bruck, Director, Business Development