You may have heard of Silicon Valley, the area in California named for the concentration of high-tech industries. Utah's Wasatch Front has emerged as a similar region, and with more than 5,200 life science and high-tech companies and a combination of the greatest snow on earth, the area has been dubbed "Silicon Slopes."

At eBusiness day in the Tanner Building on Friday, students had the opportunity to hear from one of the leading companies in Silicon Slopes, the online company, Omniture. CEO and co-founder Joshua James talked about the success of Omniture as the fastest growing software company in the United States.

James said he hopes Silicon Slopes will continue to grow as other large companies are added to the area, and hopes BYU students will be a part of that.

"I would encourage you to go out and just do," James said. "If it's wrong, abort. Pull the eject button and do something else."

Omniture is the largest business to come out of BYU since WordPerfect, and the largest ever started by BYU students. Omniture was alongside 10 other online businesses that hosted booths in the atrium of the Tanner.

"It's nice to see what kind of technology companies are local," said James Burrell, an information systems major from Murray. "It's interesting to learn that some are right here, and have the chance to familiarize myself with things available in Utah as far as technology careers."

Matt Bowman, global marketing strategist for Novell, another large business in Silicon Slopes that was founded in Orem, addressed students.

"We hope this spurs you to think about how you apply these things in your own ventures," Bowman said.

The event is held once a semester. Joshua Nicholls, an eBusiness day student leader said this has been the biggest eBusiness day so far.

In a Marriott School press release, Nicholls said this gives students the chance to be a part of something big.

"Silicon Slopes is an emerging label in Utah, and this is a great opportunity for students to get involved in a powerful discussion about things that really matter here," Nicholls said.

The Generations Network, parent company of Ancestry.com hosted one of the booths available to students.

"We're interested in helping students stay in the state and showing them what is available," said Suzy Jessen, senior global recruiting manager for The Generations Network. "It gives them contact with the company and the people who make hiring decisions."