Tennessee Code Title 65. Public Utilities and Carriers § 65-25-121

(a) Any corporation organized on a nonprofit or a cooperative basis for the primary purpose and/or for one (1) or more secondary purposes and operating in a state adjacent to this state shall be permitted to transact business in this state without complying with any statute of this state pertaining to the qualification of foreign corporations for the transaction of business in this state.

(b) Any such foreign corporation, as a prerequisite to its transaction of business in this state, shall, by an instrument executed and acknowledged in its behalf by its president or vice president and attested to by its secretary, designate the secretary of state its agent to accept service of process in its behalf. In the event any such process shall be served upon the secretary of state, the secretary of state shall forthwith forward the same by registered mail to such corporation at the address thereof specified in such instrument.

(c) Any such corporation may sue and be sued in the courts of this state to the same extent that a cooperative under this chapter may sue or be sued in such courts.

(d) Any such foreign corporation may secure its notes, bonds, or other evidences of indebtedness by mortgage, pledge, deed of trust, or other encumbrance of any or all of its then-owned or after-acquired real or personal property, assets, or franchise, located or to be located in this state, and also upon its revenues and income.