Yes. Place the scoped variable with the newly created string in page or request scope and it will be available to the remainder of the JSP page after the tag.
Thanks Bear Bibeault that makes perfect sence, I wasnt sure if tags had some kind of return mechanism, but in web pages you pass data around within request page session scopes.
From back in the Ice Ages, tags also have the ability to create scripting variables, but they're only useful when using scriptlets, which of course, no one should be doing at this point.