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Klecklner, Shawne

Published onAug 18, 2021
Klecklner, Shawne
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(May 22, 1972 — )

Quick Facts

Alumnus Kleckner launched Right Stuf Inc., an anime and manga distribution company, while in high school.


Shawne P. Kleckner was born on May 22, 1972 in Webster City, Iowa and is an American entrepreneur. Kleckner is the co-founder / president of The Right Stuf Inc., a company that distributes anime, manga, and figures and merchandise throughout the world. Kleckner attended the suburban Des Moines Southeast Polk High School and graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in Computer Engineering and a minor in History. He and a former business partner launched The Right Stuf in 1987 while he was still in high school; they continued to operate the business while Kleckner studied at Iowa State.

Kleckner is a recipient of the ACE North American Entrepreneur of the Year award, and he has also been featured in Inc. and USA Today articles on entrepreneurship. The Right Stuf International made the Inc. 500 list in 1999. He was selected as one of Des Moines' 40 Under 40 by the Des Moines Business Record. The Right Stuf now posts annual sales of $10 million.

“Today we do more business in one day than we did during the entire first year we were in business,” Kleckner said. “I certainly didn’t envision it growing like this when we started. I would have laughed if you told me I would be selling comic books all my life.”

Concurrent with his efforts at Right Stuf, Kleckner previously served as Vice President of Business Affairs and CFO of Century Systems (a systems integrator of computer hardware and software) and Senior Vice President of Intersphere Lasergames (a manufacturer of Lasertag equipment). He has served on several corporate boards, including Trinlogix, LLC, a software company specializing in three-dimensional modeling of financial and other data for analysis, and the Des Moines Zen Center, a Soto Zen Buddhist organization. Kleckner also served as an advisor for Anime News Network.

Kleckner is passionate about the environment, and when his company moved to a new facility in 2005, he remodeled the facility to be LEED Certified, utilizing geothermal heating and cooling. He supports events and organizations including Orchard Place mental health shelter, Trees Forever, Paws and Effect, Reggie's Sleepout, The Rooftop Foundation, Central Iowa's Boys & Girls Club, Holding Tiny Hands Foundation, Amanda the Panda, and the Iowa Coalition against Domestic Violence. His business also sponsors a program that provides work experience to children with special needs from the Dallas Center-Grimes Community School District.

Selected Sources

https://wikivisually.com/wiki/Shawne_Kleckner

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shawne_Kleckner

https://www.revolvy.com/main/index.php?s=Shawne%20Kleckner&item_type=topic

 "Business Record: Forty Under 40 2009". 
https://businessrecord.com/PrintArticle.aspx?aid=42415&uid=c91a9ed5-619a-414b-9210-9cf107c7661b

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