Boeing Machinist Dennis Higgs operates a Cramic milling machine at the Boeing-Portland site, producing an airplane flap track for the new Boeing 747-8.

The Oregon Natural Step Network gained a major new partner recently. Boeing’s (NYSE:BA) Gresham plant, which is commonly known as Boeing-Portland, joined the network at the Founding Member level recently.

The Natural Step is a framework for thinking about sustainability in business. It’s guiding principle is that businesses and governments can reduce their impact on the environment while increasing overall efficiency. Boeing-Portland’s membership means that the plant will have access to targeted sustainability training and that the Network’s message will reach all of the plant’s 1,600 employees.

Boeing-Portland, which manufacturers machined parts and structures for the company’s jet-engine airplanes, joined the Network because it has to meet a raft of environmental goals mandated by the company. According to Steve Mason, manager of environment, health and safety at the plant, the plan is to use information from The Natural Step to train employees so they can help the plant meet those goals.

"It is a key part of the overall effort," he said. "All Boeing Portland employees are critical to our success in the environmental arena. Without a way to bring them up to a level of education that The Natural Step offers us, we'd be developing this type of training internally," he said.

Mason said that specific plans for how the training will work and what will be passed on to employees have yet to be developed because the membership is so new.

Boeing’s overall environmental goals include a 15 percent improvement in fuel efficiency and emissions of carbon dioxide for each new generation of plane, increasing energy efficiency at all manufacturing facilities by 25 percent within five years, and getting all "major" facilities to the ISO 14001 environmental management system standard by the end of the year. Boeing-Portland is already certified to this standard, Mason said.