When you write an article about Riana Dozier, your hope is that you can accurately convey at least a small portion of the passion, positivity, and energy she exudes during the interview. (Somehow she makes algebra sound fun!) It almost feels like an injustice to only get to experience her personality through printed words.
Riana’s obviously in a good spot in her life. She is literally starting her career in a field—engineering—she has been consumed by since her senior year of high school at Charles A. Tindley Accelerated School in Indianapolis.She went on to earn a degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology from the University of Dayton, graduating in the fall of 2019. But just as she was really revving up her job search in early 2020, the pandemic hit. It wasn’t until January 2021, that she finally was able to get her foot in the engineering door, when she was hired as a manufacturing engineer for Goodwill Commercial Services. Riana is currently working at Goodwill’s facility at 413 N. Tremont Street. The plan is for her to shift to Goodwill’s new manufacturing site at 38th and Sheridan when it is completed this fall.
It will be a bit of a homecoming for her.
“I went to high school up there on 38th and Meadows—not too far from where we are building the new location,” Riana said. “And my grandparents live up on 38th and Emerson, so right up the street. I’ve been on this side of the neighborhood most of my life.”
The new facility will produce medical devices for Bloomington-based Cook Medical.
Before the building opens, Riana will be part of the team designing the setup of the production areas to maximize workflow and making sure operating instructions for machinery are accurate and in place. Once the facility is up and running, her days will be spent keeping that machinery working and tackling any issues related to productivity and worker safety and comfort.
Not surprisingly, for someone who had to delay the start of their career for almost a year, she is excited and raring to go. Add in the fact that Riana is doing a job she loves and will soon get to do it in a place that has meant so much to her, and you can understand why she is almost overflowing with passion and positivity.
“I am excited to see the neighborhood transform,” she said. “I am excited to see the opportunities it is bringing to the people in our community. I am excited to be a part of this from the ground up. It is a blessing.”
For more information on the new facility at 38th and Sheridan, please visit 38thandsheridan.com