2025 IN REVIEW: Movement on Columbia County’s business scene
Published 5:00 am Tuesday, December 30, 2025
As 2025 comes to a close, Columbia County’s business scene looks a little different than it did a year ago.
A handful of new restaurants added something new to the county’s culinary mix, and local shopping options also expanded. Heading into 2026, area industry is poised for new growth following movement on planned developments in the last year.
Here’s the recap:
New on the menu
2025 brought some changes to Columbia County’s culinary scene.
Scappoose saw the opening of Sushiro Ramen Cafe in February, bringing ramen, sushi, poke bowls and boba tea to town.
The new ramen spot hopefully softened the blow to Scappoose residents who were excited about the potential opening of a new Taco Bell, which ultimately did not come to fruition.
In September, Pretty Nice Deli opened in downtown St. Helens, serving up hoagies made with artisan ingredients.
Retail and recreation
New retail and outdoor recreation businesses opened in Columbia County in 2025.
March saw the grand opening of The Roots Disc Golf Course at Columbia County Sports, marking the completion of the first stage of development of the new sports complex that was formerly the St. Helens Golf Course, which had been closed since 2018.
The same month, Avamere reopened its in-house salon after a five-year hiatus on services caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Residents of the senior living center and community members alike are welcome to treat themselves to some self care at the salon.
July was a big month for St. Helens readers thanks to the opening of a new bookstore. The shop opened as Two Rivers Bookstore, but has since been renamed Riverfront Books, reflecting the store’s waterfront location.
In October, a Scappoose couple took over the former Next Adventure Scappoose Bay Paddle Sports Center, which was set to close down. Instead, the watersports hub will live on as The Paddle Shack.
December saw a new mental health program launch out of the Sande School of Horsemanship in Warren. EquiTerra Integrative Mental Health partners clients with professional mental health providers and trained horses to tackle a variety of therapeutic goals.
Industry and infrastructure
At the beginning of 2025, the Scappoose City Council finally gave the green light to Buxton Ranch, a housing development that has been the subject of much controversy due to its location in a floodplain near South Scappoose Creek.
In February, NXTClean Fuels announced its intention to have its 90-acre site at Port Westward up and running by 2028. While the company has run into plenty of red tape that has continuously pushed back plans to open in Columbia County, it hopes to eventually manufacture fuel made out of renewable plant and animal resources once the facility opens.
In June, a decade of planning, visioning and building along the shore of the Columbia River finally came to fruition as St. Helens city officials cut the ribbon on new improvements to the city’s waterfront.
There’s still more to be done before the city’s waterfront revitalization project is complete, but a potential path forward was revealed in October when real estate developer Romano Capital expressed interest in turning the former site of the Boise Cascade Veneer Plant into a future economic hub.
In September, Dyno Nobel ended its two-decade tenure in Columbia County when it sold its nitrogen manufacturing plant in Deer Island to Columbia River Nitrogen.
The same month, St. Helens saw progress in plans to sell the former Cascade Tissues site to Arcadia Paper Mills. The sale had been in limbo since Arcadia Paper Mills swooped in after American Hyperion Solar turned down the spot, and the paper manufacturer is now expected to pay $4.6 million to the city when the sale closes.
Also in September, the Scappoose Airport became one of five airports in Oregon to receive a grant through the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airport Improvement Program. About $3.8 million was awarded to the Scappoose Airport through the program, which will be used for runway reconstruction and taxiway lighting.