Free Wi-Fi for downtown Missoula is one idea a newly forming City Council subcommittee will explore as it flexes its economic development muscle.

Years ago, a member of the City Council formed an economic development subcommittee, but it languished. Now, Councilwoman Caitlin Copple wants to start it up again and focus on technology.

“I think economic development is the most important thing that Missoula really needs to work on right now,” Copple said. “It’s pretty hard to be able to fund the infrastructure and the quality-of-life things that people in Missoula like and care about when there aren’t enough people that are able to make a decent living here.”

During the recession, Mayor John Engen helped create the Missoula Economic Partnership to recruit and retain businesses. Copple said she wants to support the partnership, and the subcommittee is one way the City Council can complement its goals.

The thing about subcommittees is they need to have a purpose and a specific timeline, she said. So Copple would like this group – to be made up of interested councilors and entrepreneurs from different industries – to determine what technology infrastructure Missoula lacks that should be in place to make the city more competitive in recruiting businesses.